Students at Chipping Sodbury Second School recently received vaccinations against meningitis and septicaemia, which are caused by MenACWY, or meningococcal bacteria groups A, C, W and Y.
The Meningitis Research Foundation (MRF) have encouraged parents throughout the U.K. to have their children receive this vaccine. The goal is to protect the children from a deadly, virulent new strain of MenW.
The Meningococcal Genome Library, which received sponsorship from the MRF, was important in locating the new strain for the vaccine.
“We are encouraging parents to make sure their children at secondary school are protected against this deadly strain of meningitis and septicaemia,”
MRF Chief Executive
Vinny Smith said. “Using MRF’s meningococcal genome library, scientists at Public Health England found a particular strain — ST-11 — is particularly alarming because it is striking mainly healthy people across all age groups, with a marked spike among teenagers and cases are rising steeply. In England and Wales alone, 184 cases were reported from July 2014 to June 2015 compared with just 98 cases for same time period over the previous years.”
The vaccine is especially important for students between the ages of 14 and 18, as teens leaving for college are considered at a higher risk of contracting MenW.
