Advocate Profile, Lisa Benatar

Lisa’s daughter, Emily, was a smart, fun-loving freshman at Washington University in St. Louis when she lost her life to serogroup B meningococcal disease. She went to the ER complaining of a pain in her chest and stomach. While there, she vomited so much that she needed IV fluids in order to re-hydrate, but was released back to her dorm after midnight. That night, her father flew from California to be with her. The next day, he brought her to the student health center because she had a rash that looked like hives on her stomach, legs and arms. The rash was different from the purple rash most often associated with meningococcemia, so she was sent back to her dorm. An unbearable headache and overall numbness sent Emily back to the ER that night where she was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis. She passed away three weeks later.

Emily had been vaccinated, but vaccines available at the time did not cover serogroup B, which Emily had. Lisa is thankful that available vaccines now cover five major strains of the disease, including serogroup B. Today, she educates others about prevention and works to increase awareness of the signs and symptoms of meningitis to help protect other families from this devastating disease.