TEENAGERS starting university life must be vaccinated against the killer disease meningitis, medical experts are urging.

A new kind of vaccine - the conjugate vaccine - will be available from the end of October but Julia Warren, of the Meningitis Research Foundation, has urged new students to be inoculated with the old vaccine instead of waiting for the new type.

She said: "The risk of getting meningitis and septicaemia is highest at the beginning of term and the new vaccine will not be ready in time.

"First-time students are especially vulnerable because they are moving from a small group of friends to a huge, diverse mix of people from all over the country. They are coming into contact with bacteria which they have never met before and have built up no immunity against.

"It's spread through very close contact like breathing the same air in halls of residence and kissing, and so is especially common when people are getting to know each other in Freshers' Week."

The disease, which recently claimed the life of Blackburn College student Lucia Ferguson, can kill within hours and cases increase dramatically every winter.

Lucia, 17, of Whalley New Road, Blackburn, died in Blackburn Royal Infirmary within 12 hours of complaining of a slight headache to her parents. Her father Danny Ferguson said: "I think everyone should be vaccinated because what I saw that night was out of this world. It wasn't real. It fired through her body so fast I still cannot believe it now."

The Meningitis Research Foundation says the new and old vaccines protect against C-strain meningitis and septicemia, which causes 40 per cent of cases in Britain.

Julia Warren added: "The conjugate vaccine is brand new. The vaccination programme will happen as fast as it can be made and distributed, but all first year university and college students should get the old vaccine from their GPs before they go away to study.

"The old vaccine is less likely to be effective and only protects for two to three years, but it would still save lives this winter.

"We still have no protection at all against B-strain meningitis, so there is no room for complacency. It is still very important to be aware of the signs and symptoms."

The free Meningitis Research Foundation helpline number is 080 8800 3344.

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