Since, new vaccines became a routine part of immunization programmes in Canada , meningitis, a devastating illness affecting about 400-Canadians annually, rarely kills children over the age of five.

However, according to his mother, Mark Willcock, 7, who died Monday of the disease that causes membranes around the brain and spinal cord to become inflamed, may never have received preventive vaccines.

An outgoing Grade 2 student, Mark was allowed to stay back from school last Wednesday, when he told her he felt sick. She gave him Motrin for a mild fever and watched him play video games, thinking it was all an act to avoid school. But, by the next morning, all the classic symptoms of the illness were there, with Mark complaining of a sore neck, headache, while running a fever.

With a doctor unable to diagnose the illness, the boy sent him to hospital, where he received intravenous antibiotics, the standard treatment for bacterial meningitis, and was told to come the next day for the second round of medication. However, he suffered a seizure overnight and had to taken to the hospital in Lethbridge by ambulance. Tests were conducted, but by then, the doctors already suspected he had meningitis.

On Friday, Mark was airlifted to Alberta Children's Hospital in Calgary , but by then, he was far too ill to be saved.

Meningitis is caused by either a viral or bacterial infection, with Meningitis C being the most common strain. Responsible for 50% of the cases, it is also the strain targeted by vaccinations. A contagious disease, Meningococcal bacteria spreads through contact, such as, coughing or kissing. One out of four infected people die of the illness, with half of them under-five.

Mark's family have donated his organs and ask all donations be made out to Fleetwood-Bawden Elementary School in Lethbridge , for buying playground equipment to be installed in his memory.

According to health authorities, this is an isolated case and there is no risk to the public.