Preventing meningitis

• Vaccination is the only way to prevent meningitis.

• Effective vaccines are available to prevent some types of bacterial meningitis and these have dramatically reduced the number of cases in the UK.

• You will probably have had these vaccines when you were a baby or young child.

• The MenC vaccine, which protects against meningococcal group C disease, is available to anyone aged under 25 years and all first year university students in the UK.

• Even if you have had these vaccines, you could still be at risk from other types of meningitis. It is really important to know the signs and symptoms to look out for.

There is currently no vaccine to prevent disease caused by meningococcal group B bacteria; the most common cause of bacterial meningitis in the UK.

For more information, download our vaccines fact sheet here, or go to How vaccines work in the body here.