Parents who smoke increase the risk of their babies contracting life-threatening bacterial meningitis, say researchers at Edinburgh University.

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In the U.S., about 4, 100 cases of bacterial meningitis, including 500 deaths, occurred between 2003 and 2007, the CDC reports.

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say catching the illness isn't always a death sentence, but bacterial meningitis is usually severe.

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The doctors are injecting the children with oily chloramphenicol, endorsed by the World Health Organization as the recommended treatment for bacterial meningitis epidemics.

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It all started when Craig Bauer, an executive at manufacturer Omron Electronics, died in June 2006 of bacterial meningitis following a business trip that included stops in Brazil, China and Japan.

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He said estimates suggested that each year passive smoking in children accounted for more than 20, 000 cases of lower respiratory tract infection, 200 cases of bacterial meningitis, and 40 sudden infant deaths.

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The symptoms of bacterial meningitis are a very high temperature, stiff neck, and a blotchy red or purple rash which does not fade when the side of a glass is pressed against it.

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The Bexsero vaccine licensed by the European Commission is the first to cover meningococcal B meningitis - until now vaccines had protected against only some of the bacterial types involved.

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