Students advised over meningitis as new term looms

In England, all students are offered the MenACWY vaccine in school year nine or 10, protecting them against four different types of meningococcal bacteria

Students starting or returning to university or higher education in Wolverhampton are being urged to be up to date with vaccines against meningitis.

People mixing closely in confined environments can create infection hot spots for meningitis and septicaemia, according to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).

Both infections can be fatal, leaving the city council to encourage students "to make the healthiest start possible by ensuring they are protected".

The MenACWY vaccine is available to anyone up to their 25th birthday who missed the jab in school years nine or 10.

Councillor Jasbir Jaspal, cabinet member for adults and wellbeing, said: "Ahead of starting an exciting new chapter in their lives, we're encouraging students to make the healthiest start possible by ensuring they are protected against vaccine-preventable infectious diseases.

"If you've missed any vaccines, including the MenACWY vaccine, you should arrange to have them as soon as possible with your local GP practice – and don't forget that if you are moving away from home, it's important that you register with a new GP surgery where you are living."

Dr Shamez Ladhani, consultant epidemiologist at UKHSA, said: "We usually see increases in cases of meningococcal meningitis after the university term starts in September.

"New and returning students from around the country and overseas coming together and mixing means infection spreads easily, with some students becoming seriously ill and tragically in some cases, we see deaths.”