A GRANDAD who helped save his granddaughter's life by recognising she had signs of meningitis has welcomed new guidelines explaining how to spot the deadly disease even earlier.

Little Georgia Tippin, from May Avenue in Tolladine, Worcester, was rushed to intensive care in November after she became sensitive to light and developed the tell-tale rash all over her body which did not disappear when a glass was pressed on to it.

The 17-month-old had emergency treatment which saved her life, and her grandad Royston Tippin has been told if he had not insisted she was admitted to hospital, she could have died.

Symptoms such as a red rash, headache, stiff neck and sensitivity to light have always been regarded as the earliest warnings symptoms for the potentially fatal condition - but they can take more than 13 hours to appear.

Now, after a 15-month study of children who developed the illness, the Meningitis Research Foundation has issued a new list of 'red flag' symptoms to look out for, which, if recognised at an early stage - about eight hours after the illness strikes - could save lives.

Red flag symptoms include:

l Cold hands and feet

l Limb pain

l Abnormally pale or mottled skin

Mr Tippin said: "Anything which helps parents and doctors recognise the signs earlier is good news.

"The first time I rang up primary care, Georgia was complaining about the light and her hands and feet were freezing, but I was palmed off and told it was probably chicken pox so we put Georgia to bed.

"The next morning, we took her straight to the hospital as she had the rash - if we had gone with our instinct and taken her up the night before she may not have become as poorly as

she was."

Meningitis Research Foundation chief executive Denise Vaughan said: "This important research funded by the foundation has not only identified the early symptoms of septicaemia but the need for doctors to systematically look for those symptoms in sick children.

"We hope that this will change the model of how meningitis and septicaemia are looked for in primary care and save lives."