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Most people who have meningitis or septicaemia will make a good recovery, but some will suffer after-effects.

Everyone’s experience of meningitis is different and the recovery process – emotionally and physically – for each individual, or family, can vary enormously.

Bacterial meningitis or septicaemia can leave families bereaved and survivors with lifelong disabilities such as deafness, epilepsy, brain damage, limb loss, learning difficulties and behavioural problems.

Serious and potential long-term after-effects of meningitis are usually identified whilst a person is still in hospital, in these cases follow-up care and recovery will be unique to each individual.

Many people who have experienced viral meningitis feel that they are dismissed as having the ‘milder’ form of the disease and that very little is understood about the recovery and after-effects. The recovery process from viral meningitis can be very slow, with people suffering from headaches, exhaustion and memory loss, but the majority of sufferers no longer experience after-effects 12 months after their illness.

Whatever the outcome, meningitis and septicaemia can change people’s lives forever. These BSL health clips were made by SignHealth with help and information from Meningitis Now. They also kindly supplied the pictures. If you need more information or advice, visit www.meningitisnow.org