Should 17-18 year olds get a catch-up MenB vaccine before university?

[Strandlover]

Vaccination for meningitis B has been on the schedule for babies since 2015 - but those currently at university were born before this so won't have had this vaccination apart from if someone has organised and paid for them to have it privately. (Only on Mumsnet have I ever known that this is a thing)
Given the tragic turn of events in Uni of Kent this weekend, should all 17-18-year-olds be offered this vaccine as a catch up before they head off to university?
(NB Don't know if this vaccine would have prevented this particular outbreak but I still feel that it's not fair to this cohort of kids who go off unprotected from a disease that younger children are now routinely vaccinated against)

A friend in our town nearly lost their child to Meningitis in the first year of uni. Its had some life-changing aspects to their health.
Consequently the friend has done a lot of publicity on social media, and supports a charity,

They explained the 2 different vaccines and how to get the Men B vaccination. We got it for DD before she went to uni, but it was actually quite hard to get appointments locally. I wouldnt have had any idea that there even was another vaccine, if i hadnt known about the friends experience.

But I also didn't realise boosters would be required every few years, I thought they were covered until their teens but it seems not. I assume cost is the reason the NHS haven't introduced it as a regular thing?

As one of the lucky ones who survived Men B as a teenager at uni, I would recommend taking steps to protect your kids against this but bear in mind it is still quite rare.

Also educate them on the symptoms and speed. I think it took me about 12 hours to progress from a bad headache and brain fog to being blue lighted to hospital and a two week stay.

I paid for DS to have it just as he started uni. None of his friends have had it bu I looked into it and on the basis that it is now routine and part of childhood immunisations it was something he should have. If something happened and I could have done something to prevent it I would never forgive myself. Obviously it was his choice.

Yes ideally, it would be available for on the NHS for anyone under 25 who wants it.

I think it’s mad that older kids were not given it. We paid for our kids to have the men b vaccines. But it was expensive and we had to research it ourselves.

I think it’s scary that people think they are vaccinated so perhaps don’t even consider when they get symptoms.i always pay for the flu jab for my uni kids too.

I've just booked for my teen to have Meningitis B privately at Boots. She's 15, but at college so already mixing in crowds of older teens/20s. I hadn't realised there was another meningitis vaccine available. Annoying how expensive it is when younger kids have had it free, but what price a child's life.

I would if I were you. I’m a much older adult but recently got tested and have 0 immunity to MMR, Meningitis or Hepatitis B. Sadly my meds mean I can’t get certain vaccines either. Worrying.

When my son was in sixth form some of the kids were able to get the men B vaccine as part of a trial but I assume they decided not to roll it out. This was in 2019 so maybe covid got in the way.

Maybe these cases will accelerate a catch-up programme.

Edited - I hadn't seen the snippet of the BBC article above. That's interesting - but I wonder if these cases will change anything?

GPs need to be educated as well. They assume students are drunk or on drugs and won't take symptoms seriously. A distant relative of mine died of sepsis (I am not sure if it was meningitis) as a student and the doctor told him to take paracetamol and he died the next morning.

I’m trying to find out how long it lasts for. It seems to say two doses, followed by a booster a year later is best and gives up to 5 years immunity. On that basis I think I will be looking to get DD15 done next year and it will hopefully see her through uni.

When I was about 14 we had an additional meningitis vaccine at same time as HPV vaccines. Do they no longer get it in school?

Oh isn't it? I was going to pay b for DS to get it as he's planning on Uni this year, but I thought it lasted for 5 years. What's the point of vaccinating babies then? Many won't come into contact with masses of people until nursery or school which is also 3 years away.

I have posted on another thread that our DD just missed out on the NHS MenB vaccine as she was born in autumn 2014, and it was announced in summer 2015 to start in September 2015. There was a lot of publicity about the introduction of the vaccine in the news at the time, particularly as there had been a well-publicised tragic case of a young girl who died with MenB.

We thought there would be a catch-up, particularly for babies still under a year old when the vaccine was introduced on the NHS. Our Practice Nurse was sure this would happen for the under-twos of the time. However, it didn’t happen. My DM was very concerned, and researched having the vaccination privately, which thanks to her we did as soon as DD was two.

I absolutely believe that there should be a catch-up for those who missed out, as well as a booster at age 16/17. The oldest children who were eligible at the point of the vaccine rollout are now in year five, and action needs to be taken now rather than simply waiting for those children to reach university age.

The conspiracy theorists will have a shit fit about this.

Yes it should be offered to them whether or not they're at university

It is worth saying that the particular strain hasn't been identified yet. So it could be one of those that most Uni students from the UK will have been vaccinated against. Those affected may well be students who haven't been vaccinated routinely, for whatever reason, or it could be that they are some of the many International students that study here, from countries that don't necessarily follow the same vaccination schedule. Or it could, indeed, be Men B. Either way, yes to OP, Uni age teens and young people should be given the opportunity on the NHS to have the vaccine for free, precisely because they are more likely to be attending the perfect, mass spreading, events like the one that has triggered this outbreak. If it's deemed dangerous enough to be on the schedule for babies since 2015, someone should really have thought this might have been a good idea to follow through with. As it stands, it's only people who can afford the GBP220.00 per course, that can get their children protected. And yes, there would be a cost to the NHS, but I dread to think what the cost of this outbreak is going to be now - to the NHS, the Universities here, and the local businesses that have shut down/will shut down to avoid further spreading events.

DD is 14 and had a “meningitis jab” about a month ago. I have just checked and it was MenACWY.

I also have a 17 year old.

Edited to remove stupid Q because I hadn’t RTFT.

I think there’s confusion (including in the media) about the meningitis vaccinations.

From what I understand, the MenB vaccine is given to babies at 8 weeks, 12 weeks and 1 year. However, it only provides immunity for a few years (some sources say 3 years from the booster). The NHS only introduced into the childhood vaccination programme in 2025, so anyone older than around 10/11 won’t have had it unless they had it done privately. In any case, it sounds like immunity will have worn off long before the babies vaccinated get to secondary school. Even where there is immunity, it doesn’t cover all strains of meningitis B. Apparently the NHS decided that booster vaccines for older children weren’t “cost effective”.

The MenACWY vaccine is offered in year 9 of secondary school. It sounds like that provides more longer term protection.

There are also Hib/PCV vaccines which protect against some types of meningitis.

I’m not a medical expert though, and am only going on what I’ve read. As far as I’m aware, we don’t know what type of meningitis has occurred in the Kent outbreak.

Yes, Boots for example GBP220.00 for the course.

I’m sorry to hear that. I think I owe my life and certainly my brain function to the people tho took my condition seriously when I was unable to speak for myself. Apparently it was touch and go even with their prompt action.

From what I’ve read, anyone who had the MenB vaccine as a baby or young child won’t have immunity from that vaccine by the time they reach university age. The effects only last for several years (possibly 3 years).

What ‘conspiracy theories’ are there around kids dying of meningitis?

The comments I’ve read on social media today have been beyond ridiculous.

On one side, we have anti vaxxers adamant that it’s all one big conspiracy. On the other side, there are comments blaming anti vaxxers, saying that the only ones at risk are those that haven’t had the childhood vaccinations (presumably not realising that the MenB vaccine immunity doesn’t last beyond a few years).

We can’t cope with another vaccination in school. We will do it if we have to, but we get no extra funding and staff have to organise it all, on top of our normal jobs. We have to put up with the abuse from the anti vaxers and then are expected to chase up pupils who don’t turn up on the day.
We now have 3 days, allocated to the flu vaccines. I think all vaccines should be held n community clinics, but then again, that would put the responsibility onto the parents and it wouldn’t be so successful.