A grieving mother is urging parents to embrace vaccination after an illness she thought was the flu killed her 19-year-old daughter in the blink of an eye.

Chloe Sarah-Leeann Boniface, 19, died in her dorm room at Victoria University in New Zealand after she contracted a rare strain of Meningitis earlier this month.

Her mother, Tarsha Boniface, told NZ Herald her daughter had complained of 'feeling a bit low and run down', but she just put it down to a bad case of influenza.

'She had texted me saying she was feeling miserable, she had a sore body, a massive headache, had slept for over three hours (this wasn't like her, she was not a sleeper) and her eyes were really sore to the light,' Tarsha said.

Chloe, an aspiring marine biologist, was in her first year of uni and her mother thought stress of exam season was a reasonable excuse for her daughter's fatigue.

'I knew she was stressed with exams and had a big one coming up on Thursday so I just put it down to a combination of a few things,' Ms Boniface said.

The 19-year-old's mother did what any concerned parent would do and encouraged her daughter to rest up and make sure she was looking after herself.

But she could never have imagined she was about to lose her forever.

Ms Boniface said the last time she spoke to Chloe was about 5.15pm on November 6, where they chatted for a while before ended the call with 'I love you.'

Chloe reached out to her mum again about 10.30pm, when she sent her a text, asking if she could eat some chips after she had been vomiting.

Ms Boniface was asleep at the time and didn't see the message until the next morning, when she replied twice but didn't get a reply.

Meningitis symptoms
• Fever

• Severe headache

• Vomiting

• Feeling sleepy/confused/delirious

• Loss of consciousness

• Joint pains

• Aching muscles

• Stiff neck

• Sensitivity to bright lights

• Rash - purple or red spots or bruises.

Source: Meningitis Centre Australia

In the short space of a few hours, Chloe's non-specific symptoms revealed the life-threatening underlying Meningitis, which ripped her from her mother's life forever.

'Within me speaking with her at 5.15pm on the Tuesday, she was dead before 5am on the Wednesday,' her mother said.

Following her daughter's death, Ms Boniface is now on a mission to help people understand that the disease that killed Chloe doesn't have a type.

Despite any preconceived notions about the condition, she said Chloe was a healthy woman, who didn't come from a poor family and looked after herself.

The grieving mother appealed to all parents, whether they believe in vaccination or not, to get the facts before sending their children off to college or university.