A viral meningitis warning has been issued after Chelsea and England footballer, Daniel Sturridge, has been hospitalised with suspected viral meningitis this week.

We are urging people to look out for the symptoms and act quickly if they suspect the disease as the summer months are considered ‘peak season’ for viral meningitis, with the majority of cases happening during this time.Most cases of viral meningitis cannot be prevented by vaccinations and can often be mistaken for more common illnesses like flu.

Every year in the UK around 5,000 people contract the disease, which can leave people with severe headaches, extreme tiredness, loss of hearing, depression and memory loss, plus many other serious after-effects.

Sue Davie, Chief Executive of the Meningitis Trust, says; “Although viral meningitis is rarely life-threatening, it can leave people very ill and in need of lots of rest. The after-effects from the disease can be pretty debilitating, so we would urge Daniel - if it is confirmed as viral meningitis - to take time to recover and not rush back to the football pitch”.  

Sue continues; “Viral meningitis doesn’t respond to antibiotics, but it still requires urgent admission to hospital because until tests confirm that the meningitis is viral, there is every chance it could be the more serious bacterial meningitis, which can kill within hours”.

This week we launched our viral meningitis survey on its website – seeking to understand more about people’s experience of the disease. The results will be used to inform the public and health professionals about the impact of viral meningitis.