...hard to walk. The nurse said I probably had the flu and she sent me home."

Within hours, however, Kayla was fighting for her life. The young girl from Lawrence, Massachusetts, had bacterial meningitis, a rare, but sometimes deadly, infection that affects nearly 3,000 Americans each year.

Teens at Risk

While meningitis can strike people at any age, teenagers and young adults are especially at risk. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), adolescents and young adults account for 20 percent of all meningitis cases. The CDC now recommends that all children between the ages of 11 and 18 be vaccinated against meningitis.

Meningitis is an infection of the brain and spinal cord. Viral meningitis is generally less serious, and patients usually recover without treatment. Bacterial meningitis, however, progresses rapidly and can maim or kill within hours. An estimated 10 to 14 percent of patients die from the disease.

Kayla almost became one of them. After returning home from school, Kayla eventually fell asleep on the couch. When she woke up in the middle of the night, the disease had taken control of her body. "I had a rash all over my body," she says. "I could hardly walk up the stairs. I couldn't even get my sneakers on my feet."

Hospitalized

Alarmed, Kayla's parents rushed her to the emergency room at a nearby hospital, where doctors immediately diagnosed her with bacterial meningitis. She was taken by ambulance to Children's Hospital Boston and admitted to the...

NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.



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