Coroner urges Government to roll out Meningitis B vaccine to all youngsters after teenage girl's death
A coroner is urging the Government to roll out the Meningitis B vaccine to all youngsters following the death of a teenage girl just days after contracting the illness.
Isabel Gentry, 16, died from Meningitis B less than 48 hours after medics discharged her from Bristol Royal Infirmary after failing to diagnose it.
Senior coroner for Avon, Maria Voisin, said there was an "underestimation" of Izzy's illness and a "gross failure" in the medical treatment she received which had contributed to her death.
Ms Voisin said she would be now be urging for the Meningitis B vaccine to be rolled out to Izzy's age group to prevent future deaths.
Since 2015 the vaccine has been available to babies in the UK and the number of babies suffering from Meningitis B and related infections has almost halved.
Last March the Government ruled that it would not support the Meningitis B vaccine being given to all children, saying it would be a waste of money.
More than 820,000 people signed a petition calling for the jab Bexsero to be given to all children.
Each year, there are between 400 and 1,200 cases of Meningitis B in England.
Izzy had been taken to hospital in the early hours of May 18 last year after complaining of a headache, vomiting and fainting.
An inquest heard that she was discharged despite her mother warning medical staff that another pupil at her daughter's college had recently contracted the disease.
Her condition deteriorated and she was re-admitted later that day with "typical" symptoms of the disease and died the next day.
The inquest also heard how a GP had failed to visit Izzy at her home when she first became unwell despite her mother requesting their attendance.
The coroner said a senior clinician rather than a junior doctor should inspect patients where there is a possibility of meningitis.
Men B can cause meningitis, an inflammation of the membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord, and septicaemia or blood poisoning, both potentially fatal illnesses.
With early diagnosis and antibiotic treatment, most children make a full recovery, but it is fatal in one in 10 cases.
About one in ten of those who survive are left with severe long-term problems, such as limb loss, and one in three have less serious problems including deafness and learning difficulties.
Izzy's mother Clare Booty, from Bristol, said her "bright, beautiful daughter" should have been taken to the local children's hospital due to her age, where the condition, which is prevalent in teenagers, may have been recognised.
Dr Mark Callaway, deputy medical director for University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust, said: "Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with Isabel's family and friends. Their grief is at the forefront of our minds as we re-examine the steps we have taken to prevent such a missed diagnosis happening again.
"We will carefully consider the recommendations the coroner has made.
"We now use Isabel's illness as a case study in training for our doctors to show how patients with devastating underlying conditions can have non-specific symptoms that make their illness extremely difficult to diagnose, and how severe illness in adolescents can be masked for a period of time.
"In the light of what we have heard during Isabel's inquest, we gave a commitment yesterday to revise training for doctors taking patient histories, to ensure that the bigger diagnostic picture is not obscured by undue weight given to a single symptom.
"Our deep regret is that these measures did not ensure that we took steps to prevent Isabel's illness from developing to the point where it could not be treated. Our commitment is to learn all we can from her very sad death."
