SCHOOL leavers, particularly those going to university or college this month, are being encouraged to get vaccinated against meningococcal disease after new figures released showed less than a quarter of young people across the South-West have received the vaccine so far this year.

Last month Public Health England (PHE) advised all school leavers, but especially ‘freshers’, to get the jab from their GP to protect against this potentially deadly disease. By the end of August this year an average of just 22% of 18-year-olds leaving school – not just those going on to university – had been vaccinated across the South-West, according to data from GP surgeries.

PHE is targeting new students who are at greatest risk because they mix closely with large groups of new people, some of whom unknowingly carry the bacteria, enabling it to spread more quickly.