Sports-mad teenager loses battle with deadly disease

Middlemore Hospital. Photo / Dean Purcell

A sports-loving teenager who fought back after losing limbs to meningococcal disease has succumbed to the illness.

Invercargill student Sara Loo, 18, became ill in May with septicaemia, and fell in and out of a coma, lost both legs below the knee, her right arm, and a lot of her bodily tissue.

In recent weeks it had appeared Sara was on the road to recovery, but the infection returned, and she died in Auckland's Middlemore Hospital on Monday with family at her side. Her death has prompted dozens of tributes on Facebook.

Her father, Robert Loo, told the Herald last month the illness came out of the blue.

"It's an awful disease. And I suppose for us as parents, we were sort of a little bit complacent. We didn't think meningococcal straight away because, like many people, she was vaccinated - like all our children - against it. But she had a strain that wasn't covered by the vaccination."

Dr Nikki Turner, of the Immunisation Advisory Centre, said meningococcal disease was always present in the community. Vaccination was no "magic bullet" as the disease came in different forms.

"It could be mistaken for early illness or flu at the start, and people can go downhill very fast."

People could best protect themselves by keeping their immune systems strong with a healthy lifestyle, and by reacting immediately to distinctive symptoms such as a rash and sensitivity to light, Dr Turner said.

BACTERIAL MENACE

*Meningococcal disease is caused by one of the most aggressive and virulent bacteria commonly found in the back of the throat.

*It is most common in under-5s, but can occur at any age.

*Symptoms may include a fever, headache, vomiting or refusal of food, sleepiness and stiff neck.