{"id":74268,"date":"2016-09-19T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-09-19T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=f23485055b563450377881679ecbbdb1"},"modified":"2016-09-19T09:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-09-19T09:00:00","slug":"press-release-freshers-urged-to-get-meningitis-and-septicaemia-jab","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=74268","title":{"rendered":"Press release: Freshers urged to get meningitis and septicaemia jab"},"content":{"rendered":"
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School leavers, particularly those going to university or college this month, are being strongly encouraged to get vaccinated against meningococcal disease after figures released today (Monday 19 September) showed less than a fifth of young people have received the vaccine so far this year.<\/p>\n

Last month, Public Health England (PHE<\/abbr>) advised all school leavers, but especially \u2018freshers\u2019, to get the jab from their GP to protect against this potentially deadly disease. By the end of August, only 17% of all 18 year olds leaving school (not just those going on to university) had been vaccinated, according to data from GP surgeries.<\/p>\n

PHE<\/abbr> is targeting new students who are at greatest risk because they mix closely with large groups of new people, some of whom unknowingly carry the bacteria, enabling it to spread more quickly. With freshers\u2019 weeks about to get underway, PHE<\/abbr> is renewing the call for teenagers to get this highly effective, potentially life-saving injection which protects against group W meningococcal disease (MenW<\/abbr>). They can get their jab from their GP, either at home, or where they are studying.<\/p>\n

In recent years, there has been a sharp increase in cases of this highly aggressive strain of MenW<\/abbr>, with one in 10 cases resulting in death. In 2009 to 2010 there were in total only 22 cases in all children and adults, but this rose to 209 in 2015 to 2016, up from 176 the previous year. MenACWY<\/abbr> vaccination of school leavers was introduced last summer, and a slight drop in cases has been seen among those aged between 15 and 19 (in contrast to other age groups), falling from 25 last year to 20 this year. The total number of deaths, across all age groups, has risen from around 4 a year up until 2012 to 22 deaths in 2014 to 2015.<\/p>\n

There have been no recorded MenW<\/abbr> cases in young people who received this vaccine, which will also help protect against 3 other strains:<\/p>\n