So far this year, six children under three have died of pneumococcal meningitis and five have died from meningitis B. Although a life-saving vaccine for pneumococcal meningitis has been produced in Ireland, it has yet to be made widely available to Irish children despite repeated calls from the Meningitis Research Foundation.

"Our one comfort is that everything that could have been done for Jessica was done, and that she was too young to receive the vaccine, " said Rosemarie O'Leary.

"But there are so many other children out there who need to be protected from it and haven't been. Since Jessica's death, all our family and friends have gone to their doctors to organise a vaccine, but it should be available to everyone."

Jessica was the couple's first baby and "very easy". "We were lucky, " said Rosemarie. "She was such a good baby. She just ate and slept and never grumbled. If it hadn't been for that, we would never have realised so quickly that she was sick."

But Jessica didn't display the classic symptoms of meningitis that parents are warned to look out for in young children . . . she didn't get a rash, appear pale and lifeless or even have much of a temperature at first. The doctors who treated her were similarly baffled and carried out several tests to determine the cause of her illness.

'An awful, random thing' "It was so hard to see her in the hospital getting all these tests that were painful, " said Rosemarie. "She was so tiny in her cot, barely five weeks old. We felt very helpless."

Jessica first became ill on a Wednesday evening and, after going in and out of Temple Street hospital, was diagnosed with pneumococcal meningitis the following Monday. By Thursday, it was clear that she was not going to survive.

"The antibiotics just didn't work; she was too weak, " said Rosemarie. "She died on the Friday afternoon. . . We were just in a daze. The only thing that comforted us was that everyone had done everything they could. She could have picked up the virus anywhere. It was just an awful, random thing."

It was not the first tragedy the O'Leary family had dealt with . . . Jessica's baby cousin Oscar died suddenly three years ago, while Rosemarie's mother's first child died as a baby. "I think it just brought everything back for the family, which made it particularly hard to deal with, " said Rosemarie.

According to Clodagh Brennock of the Meningitis Research Foundation, around 300 people die every year from a strain of meningitis, with over 25% of cases occurring in babies under the age of one.

"At the moment there is no vaccine for meningitis B and the vaccine for pneumococcal meningitis has yet to be rolled out nationwide, " she said.

"But since the vaccine for meningitis C was introduced in 2000, it has dropped by 96%. So we would hope that the meningitis B vaccine, which the Department of Health have promised for 2008, will have a similar effect."

'People need to be aware' Despite the success of the meningitis A vaccine, its existence has also led many people to think that meningitis is no longer a problem.

"Many young people who have been vaccinated against meningitis A think they are immune, but that is far from the case, " said Brennock.

After children under four, teenagers and young people are most at risk, followed by elderly people. "But we want to emphasise that anyone can get meningitis, regardless of their age or health, " said Brennock.

"People need to be aware that meningitis is still very much a danger, " said Rosemarie, who is now expecting her second child. "We'll have a brother or sister for Jessica in February, and they'll grow up knowing all about her."

Meningitis Awareness Week runs from 17-23 September, with the theme 'B Aware.' Contact freephone 1800 41 33 44 for a free symptoms information pack.

www. meningitis. org