Help to support the Counting the Costs of Meningitis Campaign
A recent warning was sent out to those students returning to university after a rise in meningitis and measles cases this past year.
The Health Protection Agency (HPA) issued the warning as recent figures showed many patients were not immunised.
As part of Meningitis Awareness Week (this week) the Meningitis Research Foundation is launching the 'counting the costs' campaign.
This is an online petition to call on the UK government to pursue the widest and earliest implementation of vaccines against meningitis and septicaemia to prevent the disease.
From January to July this year there were 777 confirmed cases of measles, compared with 374 cases for the whole of 2010. Those affested were mainly children or yound adults under 25 and were mostly associated with unversities and schools.
Dr Mary Ramsay, head of the immunisation department at the HPA, told the Huffington Post: "It is absolutely vital that all students ensure they are completely up to date with all their vaccinations.
"University bars and campuses where lots of students are in close promimity is an ideal place for bacteria and viruses to spread which is why we may see more outbreaks of these infections in this environment."
With 10,000 signatures needed on this petition, take yourself to meningitis.org/sign and get your name on it. It doesn't cost anything and you may just help to save a life.
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