Meningitis warning to students

28th September 2017

Health experts in Stockport are warning school leavers about the real dangers of catching meningitis because of the low uptake rate for the vaccine.

Around two thirds of the borough’s 18 year old school leavers haven’t been immunised leaving them at risk of contracting this potentially fatal disease.

Many of those two and a half thousand students will be starting university in mid-September where they will be particularly at risk.

Older teenagers and new university students are at higher risk of infection because they begin to mix closely with lots of new people, some of whom may unknowingly carry the meningococcal bacteria.

Medics hoped they were winning the fight against the disease as, since the introduction of the MenC vaccine in 1999, the number of cases of that strain of meningitis massively decreased.

But in recent years there has been a rapid increase in the W strain of meningococcal disease which spreads quickly, is harder to diagnose and is therefore more likely to lead to life-changing disabilities or even death.

The current MenACWY vaccine now protects against this strain plus the three other most common types of meningitis in the UK.

Ideally, the vaccination should be administered before the end of August to give the body time to build up immunity before the start of term mid-September.

If you’ve not yet had your jab and you turned 18 by the end of August book your appointment with your GP now. Those who missed it in previous years remain eligible to have it until they turn 25.