​Meningitis W: Why Get Injected?

As the start of the new academic year looms for hundreds of thousands of students across the UK, young people starting university or college are being urged to contact their GPs and get an injection against meningitis.

The injection, known as the Men ACWY vaccine, was first introduced for new university students in the UK last year. It protects against the A, C, Y and W strains of the disease or forms that can cause death or disability.

NHS England have recently launched the campaign, in particular to focus on meningitis W, a strain of meningitis which experts say is highly aggressive and seems to be on the rise.

NHS England indicated that meningitis W was reported in 22 cases in 2009 in England compared with 200 cases over the previous 12 months. This significant rise has led to the campaign for young people to be immunised. Meningitis W can also prove to be fatal in 1 in 10 cases and can lead to long-term health problems including deafness, epilepsy and amputations.

What is Meningitis?

Meningitis is an infection of the meninges, the membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord. It can be caused by many different organisms including bacteria and viruses. Meningococcal bacteria are common and carried harmlessly in the nose and throat by about 1 in 10 people.

They are passed on through close contact and symptoms can include fever, tiredness and general aches at first. These can get rapidly worse with agitation, confusion, vomiting and headaches. Meningitis can strike quickly but its impact can last a lifetime. There is a difference between bacterial meningitis and viral meningitis with bacterial meningitis being considered the more life-threatening. However, viral meningitis can still leave the patient with lifelong permanent disabilities.

Students

Meningitis can affect anyone at any age and at any time, however there are at risk groups. Liz Brown at the charity Meningitis Now confirmed that up to 25% of students carry the bacteria that can cause meningitis compared to just 10% in the general population.

Students are therefore considered to be in the at risk group for developing both bacterial and viral meningitis. Therefore NHS England’s aim to encourage vaccination against meningitis is being targeted at those students who are due to start university, although it has been confirmed that any students already at university and who missed out on the injection before their first year can ask their GP for the injection to be provided. The aim for NHS England is to vaccinate all first year students under the age of 25. Although students are the focus of the campaign, other young people are also being strongly advised to get the vaccination whether they plan on attending university or college or not.

Effects of Meningitis

According to the Meningitis Research Foundation, most people who contract meningitis and septicaemia will survive, often without any after effects but sometimes the diseases can cause a range of disabilities and problems that can alter people’s lives.

The effects of meningitis are different for different patients, however in some instances the disease has proved to be fatal and in others it has led to a range of disabilities including cognitive problems, co-ordination difficulties, deafness, learning difficulties, epilepsy, speech problems and loss of vision.

Meningitis can also lead to limb amputation. Jonnie Peacock, GB Paralympian and sprinter contracted meningitis at the age of five resulting in the amputation of his right leg below the knee.

Despite his amputation, Jonnie won the 100m T44 final with a time of 10.9 seconds claiming the gold at the London 2012 Paralympics and made a Paralympic record in the process. On his website, Jonnie says his aim is to raise awareness of meningitis and also to compete in as many Paralympic games as possible. Here at PotterReesDolan we certainly wish Jonnie all the best for the upcoming Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.

Meningitis and the Law

Whilst the symptoms of meningitis can be of a rapid onset there are instances where members of the medical profession have failed to diagnose and treat the rapidly progressing disease resulting in the patient suffering more significant injury and disability than they would otherwise have done.

A couple of the more recent cases dealing with meningitis are set out below. Click on the link to read the full case summary:

• Teenage girl loses leg and some fingers after a delay in diagnosing meningitis
• Young girl left with physical injuries and learning difficulties when GP failed to diagnose meningitis
• Woman suffered sight and hearing loss as a result of undiagnosed meningitis
• Student whose meningitis was undiagnosed had one hand and two feet amputated

As can be seen from the cases above, with the rapid onset of meningitis quick action is seen by the experts who advised the court to be the only way of avoiding the injuries and disabilities which patients can suffer as a result of this devastating injury.

Why be Injected?

Here at PotterReesDolan we are always thrilled to read about any developments which may protect people from suffering such significant injuries and we know that meningitis can lead to devastating injury and in some cases death.

We are therefore encouraged by NHS England’s campaign against Meningitis W targeted at young people and university students.