"Dancing with the
Stars®*" Finalist Amy
Purdy Shares Her Story to
Help Protect Teens from
Meningococcal Meningitis
(BPT) - World class snowboarder,
Paralympic®** medalist and "Dancing with
the Stars" finalist Amy Purdy and her mother,
Sheri, have teamed up to launch Take Action
Against Meningitis. The campaign
encourages parents to take a pledge to talk
to their healthcare providers about helping to
protect their teens from meningococcal
meningitis.
One type of invasive meningococcal disease,
meningococcal meningitis, is a bacterial
infection, which causes inflammation of the
protective membranes covering the brain and
spinal cord. There are five common forms of
the bacteria that cause meningococcal
disease -- A, C, Y, W and B.
"Adolescents and young adults are the
primary carriers of the meningococcal
bacteria, meaning they may harbor the
pathogen in the back of the throat, even if it
does not cause them to get sick ," said Dr.
Richard Chung, Director of Adolescent
Medicine at Duke University. "It's important
to talk to your healthcare provider for more
information about meningococcal disease.
There are vaccines available for serogroups
A, C, W and Y, and now serogroup B."
within 24 hours and, for those who survive,
it can cause permanent disabilities.
"I remember the day Amy called to tell me
that she wasn't feeling well," said Sheri
Purdy. "At the time, I didn't think anything of
it and thought it may be the flu. Within 24
hours, Amy was hospitalized with
meningococcal meningitis and we were told
she might not make it."
At 19, Amy lost both of her legs below the
knee as a result of the disease. "At first, it
was hard to wrap my head around the fact
that I was losing my legs," said Amy Purdy.
"We all have challenges and many are
surmountable. Whether it's competing in the
Paralympics or on 'Dancing with the Stars,'
I'm still finding new ways to challenge my
own ideas about what I think I may be
capable of accomplishing. My mom and I
are excited to work with Pfizer on this
campaign to challenge parents to talk to
their healthcare providers about helping to
protect their teens from meningococcal
meningitis."
For each pledge, Pfizer will donate $1 - up
to $20,000 - to Adaptive Action Sports, the
not-for-profit organization Amy co-founded
to help create opportunities for individuals
with physical disabilities to get involved in
action sports.
Parents can learn more about Take Action
Against Meningitis and take the pledge to
talk to a healthcare provider about
meningococcal meningitis protection by
visiting TakeActionAgainstMeningitis.com.
* DANCING WITH THE STARS® is a
registered trademark owned by the British
Broadcasting Corporation.
Early symptoms of meningococcal meningitis
** PARALYMPICS® is a registered
can be misinterpreted as the flu. Invasive
trademark owned by the U.S. Olympic
meningococcal disease can lead to death
Committee.
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