The UK Health and Security Agency (UKHSA) have issued a warning to new and returning students to protect themselves from meningitis before the start of the academic term. Did you know with an ad-lite subscription to Burnley Express, you get 70% fewer ads while viewing the news that matters to you. Students are being asked to make sure they are up to date on their free NHS vaccinations for meningitis, measles and HPV.
With universities and higher education spaces potentially being hot spots for COVID-19, flu, measles, mumps and meningococcal disease as they present the perfect opportunity for infection to spread. Meningitis and septicaemia can both be fatal or cause life-changing disabilities. It can affect anyone, but is most common in babies, young children, teenagers and young adults, with symptoms turning serious if not treated quickly.
Advertisement Advertisement Young children are offered 2 doses of the MMR vaccine, which is the safest and most effective way to protect yourself against measles, mumps and rubella. But not everyone will have received these jabs. Vaccine coverage data from the UKHSA has revealed that one in eight new students going to college or university this year remain unprotected from the four strains of meningococcal bacteria, each of which can cause long term disability, serious health complications and can be life threatening.
The latest MenACWY coverage date from 2021 to 2022 has highlighted that the vaccination rate has fallen to 79.6%, meaning th.