A West Auckland grandmother is warning parents and caregivers to be wary of meningitis' speed after losing her grandson

Susan Green had been planning to take her grandson on a special birthday trip to the Gold Coast next February.

The tickets were booked and 8-year-old Bernard Alefaio was looking forward to spending his time splashing around at Wet n Wild.

In September Bernard woke up with a sore tummy and before the day ended he would be dead.

Chris McKeen/Stuff Susan Green's eight-year-old grandson (who she was the primary caregiver for), died from meningococcal W in September.

Bernard was one of the six New Zealanders who died from a new strain meningococcal disease, known as MenW this year.

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The rate at which Bernard's health deteriorated left Green, who had custody of him and his two younger siblings, shell shocked.

"It all happened so fast - I woke him up for school and he told me he had a tummy ache, around midday I had to go to work so I checked in on him to see if he wanted to go to the doctor but he said it wasn't too bad."

Around 5pm Green received a call telling her Bernard was being rushed to Starship children's hospital and might not make it.

"My adult daughter had gone in to check on him," Green said, "and she found him lying on his bed just clenching his fists.

"They did everything they could at the hospital, he didn't even show signs of a rash until he was already there it all just happened so fast."

The family were called in to say their farewells shortly before midnight.

"It was all so fast, he didn't have many symptoms - even now we still don't know how exactly he got it but the nurse told us it was airborne."

Chris McKeen/Stuff Green said it's still hard to think about Bernard without crying.

Following Bernard's death a District Health nurse was sent to Green's home in Massey and everyone who was close to Bernard in his final days was vaccinated for the strain.

In the community of Massey, West Auckland where Green and Bernard lived, Bernard was being remembered as a humble boy with many friends.

"Everyone loved Bernard, he was such a sweet boy - he loved the water and going to the beach and he was really looking forward to going to Australia for his ninth birthday next year."

Chris McKeen/Stuff A leaflet from Bernard's funeral service remains in the family home.

Green said parents and caregivers need to be aware of the signs and symptoms of the disease and just how fast it could work.

"We had all heard of meningococcal before but we just weren't aware of it as being a risk we had no idea how serious his sickness was.

"Just be aware of it. I didn't know the symptoms or how fast it could happen, it has caused me a lot of turmoil and I blame myself a lot for not being there. It's been very hard on our whole family."

Chris McKeen/Stuff A wall in Green's Massey home is dedicated to Bernard with a tapa cloth, photographs and certificates from school.

Clinical microbiologist David Hammer said the new strain was very hard to diagnose because its symptoms were more variable than previous strains of the disease.

"They can present looking like any form of infection and appear randomly for no apparent reason.

"Everyone should be diligent with hygiene - don't share drinks and cover your mouth while sneezing or coughing."

Annette Lambly/Stuff Dr David Hammer, Dr Nick Chamberlain and Dr Ailsa Tuck are urging parents in Northland to have their children immunised against the deadly meningococcal W strain.

Starting next week the government will launch an emergency vaccine programme to fight the strain in Northland after three of the six deaths this year occurred in the region.

This year, 29 people had contracted the strain nationwide, which was more than twice as many as in 2017.

The vaccination will be available from December 5 at selected high schools and community centres in Northland.

Supplied Meningococcal bacteria can be transferred from person to person through contact with saliva.

Ministry of Health director-general Ashley Bloomfield said the estimated cost of rolling out the vaccination campaign was about $700,000.

The bacterium was transmitted through close contact and factors such as poverty, close quarter living and overcrowding were significant drivers of transmission in Northland, Bloomfield said.

"We also know Māori have higher rates of the disease and this probably relates to high rates of living in overcrowded circumstances."

Supplied Ministry of Health director-general Ashley Bloomfield said the disease was transmitted through close contact.

Two age groups will be targeted in the vaccine programme — children from nine months to five years and teenagers from 13 to 20 years. To be eligible, the child will need to be a Northland resident Northland District Health Board chief executive Nick Chamberlain said.

"We are hopeful that more vaccines will become available so we can vaccinate the entire population under 20 years as we did in 2011 with the meningococcal C vaccination programme."

Green said it was a relief to hear about the vaccine plans, she believed it was important and hoped it would be rolled out throughout the country.

"This vaccine will save lives - I just wish it was brought out earlier, because then he would still be here today."