“The reality is it can affect anyone at any time and getting medical support as soon as possible is crucial.”
Kim, from Leamington Spa in Warwickshire, fell ill with viral meningitis at the age of 42 in January 2026. Still living with the after-effects she’s now determined to raise awareness that adults get this disease too. She tells her story here.
“It was a Saturday evening and we’d enjoyed a day hosting family. I felt a bit shivery in the afternoon but thought nothing of it until my head started to hurt. It was different to a usual headache, like my brain was rattling round in a box.
“I told my husband I was going to have a quick lie down, assuming my headache would go. A couple of hours later my husband checked on me and I was shivering in bed with a severe headache and a high temperature. We’ve got young children and it was that time of the year where viruses are rife, so we assumed I’d picked up one of the winter bugs going round.
My face became deformed
“The next day my face became deformed. I had a swollen frown across my forehead and eyes and my headache got worse. I spent the day in bed and booked a doctor’s appointment for the next day, hoping they’ve give me some pain relief.
“Come Monday I’d developed severe photosensitivity and had to wear sunglasses and a scarf around my head as I couldn’t bear the light, and I also couldn’t bear noise. I was seen by two doctors at the surgery and they sent me to A&E with suspected meningitis. By then I was in so much pain I didn’t really care what it was, I just wanted the pain to go away.
“By the time I got to A&E I’d developed nausea and a rash, and felt absolutely awful. Twelve hours later after seeing two doctors I was eventually admitted onto the acute ward in an isolation room and advised that I needed a lumbar puncture to rule out what they suspected was encephalitis or meningitis.
A huge shock
“Two days later the results came back and I was diagnosed with viral meningitis which was a huge shock!
“Even though I knew it was suspected and I felt awful I assumed as I was a generally fit and healthy adult it would come to nothing and they’d say it was just a virus. Thankfully after five days in hospital I was allowed home.
“The impact in the early weeks was significant. I was on several medications to manage my headaches and nausea and slept a lot. Doing the school run felt like climbing a mountain! Thankfully I’m four weeks post having meningitis now and am recovering steadily.
Children help keep spirits up
“Physically I still get very tired and it creeps up on me. It’s important to rest as much as possible which has been a learning curve for me, but I’m slowly getting back to gentle walks and work. It’s been quite an emotional journey for both me and my family, to process me becoming so unwell so quickly, and just how serious meningitis is. You never expect it to happen to you. My family have been a huge support and my children have helped keep my spirits up!
“I’m so thankful to the NHS for treating me with such urgency and care, and to Meningitis Now for providing information about meningitis and especially for me the after-effects, which no one can prepare you for but are so much easier to cope with once you know what’s normal and what to expect.
Quick and helpful response
“I emailed Meningitis Now once and got a quick response, providing information about what I could expect from my recovery and how I could access support. Just knowing this has helped me feel that you get it and if I need support you will be there as the experts in meningitis. Thank you.
“I think it’s important for others to know the signs and symptoms of meningitis and that it can affect adults as well as children. I had always thought of it as a childhood illness and so even though I was experiencing classic meningitis symptoms I dismissed the possibility I could have it.
“We’d like to support raising awareness of meningitis, as so many of our friends and family were like us shocked that as a 42-year-old adult you can get meningitis, but the reality is it can affect anyone at any time and getting medical support as soon as possible if you think you have symptoms is crucial.”
It’s Viral Meningitis Awareness Week (6-12th May) which offers an opportunity to raise vital awareness of this often-misunderstood illness. Through sharing personal stories of how viral meningitis has affected people, we hope to highlight the realities of the disease.
Viral meningitis is an infection that causes inflammation of the membranes that surround the brain and the spinal cord. Symptoms can include a severe headache, a dislike of bright lights, neck stiffness, nausea, vomiting and confusion. The disease can affect anyone of any age. Although it is rarely life threatening, it can make people feel very ill and, for some, cause life-changing after-effects.
