Kia Gott: Meningitis C girl's father slams vaccination decision

The father of an 11-month-old girl with "one of the worst cases of meningitis" medics have ever seen said he blames a decision to stop a routine vaccination for the "living nightmare".

Kia Gott, of Bradford, had all of her limbs amputated after she contracted meningitis C last September.

Her father Paul said the decision, taken three months earlier, had "taken my daughter's life away".

Public Health England said cases in babies under one were "very rare."

Kia faces multiple skin grafts and months in hospital due to her condition.

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Mr Gott said: "I'd like the person who stopped the vaccinations to come and see my daughter."

"The vaccine she was meant to have at three months was just stopped" he said.

He said Kia was "not too well at the moment" and was being weaned off drugs used in operations since October.

The family would have "to go through this for the rest of our lives", he added.

Paul Gott said Kia now faces many more months in hospital

Kia before the "living nightmare"

Meanwhile, the Gott family has received a letter from Sophie, Countess of Wessex, that said she was "completely heartbroken" by Kia's prognosis.

The countess is a patron of Meningitis Now, a charity helping the family.

The Gott family are hoping Sophie, Countess of Wessex could now visit Kia

Dr Mary Ramsay, head of immunisation at the government body, said vaccinations targeted those at highest risk and were "informed by changing patterns of disease".

She said the vaccine for three-month-old babies was stopped after advice from the Joint Committee of Vaccination and Immunisation.

The vaccine is now administered (combined with another vaccine) at about 12 months old and followed by another combined vaccine to teenagers.

The Men C vaccine was introduced in 1999 when there were almost 1,000 cases a year and 70 to 80 deaths a year in England, said Meningitis Now.

Dr Tom Nutt, chief executive of the charity, said the organisation supported vaccinations but warned they are "not 100% effective and do not exist to protect against all types of meningitis".

"Kia's case sadly reminds us... cases of the disease will continue to occur."

Dr Tom Nutt, chief executive of Meningitis Now, said: "Vaccines are not 100 per cent effective"

What is meningitis?

• Meningitis is an infection of the meninges - the membrane that surrounds the brain and spinal cord

• Meningococcal bacteria are common and carried harmlessly in the nose or throat by about one in 10 people

• They are passed on through close contact

• Anyone can get meningitis but babies and young children are most vulnerable

• Meningitis can cause life-threatening blood poisoning if it is not treated quickly

• Symptoms can include a high fever, a blotchy rash, a stiff neck, drowsiness, vomiting and headaches

• These symptoms can appear in any order and some may not appear

• Meningitis - NHS Choices

Source: NHS Choices, Meningitis Now and BBC Health