Students advised to get vaccinated before returning to university

The government has advised students going back to university after Christmas to make sure they are immunised against dangerous infections.

Public Health England has called on first-year students who have still not been vaccinated to get immunised against meningococcal disease and septicaemia, while issuing updated advice to universities on steps they can take to reduce the spread of infections.

According to the latest figures from the organisation, only 29.5 percent of all young people leaving school last summer had been immunised with the MenACWY vaccine by the end of October.

The vaccination programme was originally introduced in 2015 to tackle a sharp increase in a particularly virulent strain of meningococcal W disease posing a high risk for new students, but progress on this front is still needed.

As cases have increased, the total number of related deaths has also risen, with one in eight people with meningococcal W disease dying from the infection.

Dr Mary Ramsay, head of immunisation at Public Health England, said: "First-year students remain at significantly greater risk than most young people from this deadly disease. So I would strongly urge them to go and see their GP to get vaccinated – it could save their life."

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