1:8 young people starting Uni haven’t had their meningitis vaccination

[DustyLee123]

I was in a meeting yesterday where this was revealed, and it’s anticipated to climb to 1:15. Do people not know why this vaccination was put into the programme about 8 years ago, when several young people died of meningitis at Uni?
If they haven’t had the meningitis ACWY they probably haven’t had the diptheria/tetanus/polio that’s given at the same time either. Diptheria is said to be on the rise due to people arriving in this country not vaccinated.
What can we do to make people realise how fatal these diseases can be, an encourage them to get protected?

My DS17 had it at school. My DS13 hasn't been offered it yet. I would have thought most teens starting uni should have had it as mine the year below has....unless there was some anti vaccine uptake due to covid.

And 1:15 isn't the same as one in 15... I think the OP struggles with statistics!

Lots of us do but that's not the point of this thread.

It's highly relevant to the point of the thread whether vaccination rates are rising or falling. Either whoever told OP this was clueless on statistics themselves, or they got the message backwards, or quite possibly both.

My 2 got Men ACWY at school
They are 18 and nearly 21

DS has just started Uni. We phoned GP in the summer to check if he could get Men B free but it is the Year below that are in the program. So he’s had the first jab at £200. He’s up to date with the other.
From a parents group of his Uni I’ve heard of 2 students who have had Meningitis already. It’s week 5! Very scary and very glad he’s protected to some extent.

There is no catch up program for MenB though so if you don't have it as a baby then you don't get it unless you pay for it. My 2 haven't had the MenB vaccine

This is jogging my memory! I asked the GP surgery about this years ago and they said the school did it. I rang the school and they said "er ....?"

Going to get her to check GP records.

Thanks OP.

Both universities (Exeter & Plymouth) handed us information about MenB jab.
We had sorted it at Boots but tbh not all families can afford to.

Our oldest studies a master abroad these days. No mention of MenB jab at all from the university. It's not a part of the routine programme so she is more or less the only to have it (and no one has heard about it). It's a Scandinavian university.

No. I wrote babies born today (or since 2015).

What? Yes, bad statistics are the point of any thread on statistics. The OP is written in a way that misleads people considering most people have a dreadful grasp of stats. It implies that the OPPOSITE of what's happening is happening. It's fake news in action!

The person you were replying to asked if they were free for teens now and you said yes.

Oh goodness. My daughter has recently started Uni and is nearly 19. We have gratefully accepted all vaccines that have been offered since birth. Would she have had this as part of the program?

She should have had Men Acwy but won’t have had the Men B one. Best to check with GP I think. Sounds like some people could have missed Men ACWY due to Covid. Mine had theirs at the same time as a Covid jab!

My DC just started uni. Received MenACWY in school. I paid for 2 x MenB privately a few years ago as that cohort were too old to have it from the NHS.

Mine aren't old enough for Uni but by 5yr old hasnt had Men B as we lived abroad until he was 3 so missed it on the NHS and it wasn't given until 4 where we were. I have enquired about him having his Men B vaccine and found out that the vaccine only gives protection for a limited number of years, so even if you have it at 1, by the time you're 5 or 6 it's highly unlikely you have any protection from it anymore. Apparently you'd need to be vaccinated every 5-7 years to keep your immunity from it. So even if your kids had it as babies they're very unlikely to have any protection by the time they start uni anyway.

It’s so important. I’m in my 40s and I lost two friends to meningitis in their teens. It happened so quickly. Within 12-24 hours.