Giving Back: Actress and Singer Tiffany Thornton
CAUSE: Meningitis is a bacterial infection that has the potential to kill a healthy young person within one day after symptoms first appear. It's a difficult virus to detect because symptoms are often confused for the flu. Twenty-six-year-old Tiffany Thornton, who is best known for her role as Tawni Hart on Sonny with a Chance, contracted meningitis when she was nineteen. She is now working to educate at-risk teens about how the disease spreads and what can be done to prevent and fight it.
GET INVOLVED: Join the Raise Your Voice Against Meningitis campaign to initiate conversations about meningitis with friends and family.
1/6The Disney star is raising awareness about the meningitis virus and vaccine.
Photo courtesy of Luke Pickerill2/6"When I was nineteen, I contracted the meningitis virus, an illness that can potentially kill within 24 hours. Thankfully, after spending ten days in the hospital, I was lucky enough to leave with no lasting effects. I got involved with the National Meningitis Campaign, which was such an honor. I recently put together a concert at the Roxy in Los Angeles to raise awareness about the availability of vaccines for meningitis. What better way to share information than with some great music?"
Photo: PR Photos3/6"When you go to a pediatrician, there are just so many things the doctor is looking for. It's important for both patients and parents to ask the doctor about meningitis and about the vaccine—something that, unlike other vaccinations, isn't required. The CDC recommends that children get vaccinated by age eleven, and then get another booster done by eighteen before they go off to college. As my story shows, it is possible to contact meningitis later in life, so everyone needs to be aware that a vaccine is available."
Photo courtesy of Luke Pickerill4/6"Bacterial meningitis is a communicable disease, so it spreads through sharing a drinking glass, kissing, or being in very close quarters, like a dorm room or classroom. The onset of it is sort of like the flu—you get body aches, chills, fever, sometimes vomiting. Stiff neck is the one thing that distinguishes it, and a rash usually develops. It's important for everyone to be aware of these two specific symptoms since they differentiate meningitis from the flu."
Photo: ClevverTV5/6"I held the benefit concert because I wanted to do something fun where we could talk about something serious. A lot of times, discussion about topics like meningitis—something that could cause serious harm and take a child's life—take on a very somber tone. If kids go up to their parents and say, 'I just went to this concert and they were talking about meningitis. What is it? What about the vaccines?' it gets the conversation started in an unconventional way."
Photo: PR Photos6/6"VoicesofMeningitis.org is a great resource to learn more. There’s a lot of medical information on the site, including things like how the vaccine works. I’m not a doctor, but I mention the virus and the vaccine in interviews as much as I can because I want people to know about it. Most people don’t really think about meningitis, and some don’t even know what it is, so I really want to get a dialogue going."
