Our daughter died from meningitis after starting uni - a jab would have saved her

"Meg Draper was 18 and had joined swimming and netball teams, but died in October from meningococcal type B meningitis (MenB) while studying physiotherapy in Bournemouth. Her parents, from Pontypool, Torfaen, and the National Union of Students UK are now calling for a vaccine, or booster, to be made available to young adults on the NHS. The MenB vaccine - the only protection against the bacteria, which makes up 82.6% of the meningitis cases in the UK - is only available on the NHS for young children, as they are seen as the most at risk."

"This protects for a couple of years, and for older children, a booster or vaccine costs about 220 privately. While MenB is described as "rare" in those over four, there is a second, less common peak in teenagers - which has led to calls for older children to be given the vaccine routinely as well. The Welsh government takes advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), which concluded in 2014 a routine jab for young adults was "not cost-effective"."

"Meg was immunised against meningitis A, C, W and Y, with her parents saying it was "horrific" to find out a separate MenB vaccination existed. The boss of charity Meningitis Now described it as a "tragedy" young people are not routinely protected with it. Meg's mum Helen Draper said they would have paid the 220 to have her vaccinated privately "in a heartbeat", adding: "We've spoken to hundreds of people who have reached out and we're yet to find a single person that was aware. "They're in the same position as we are. "That really scared us because at first we thought we'd dropped the ball, that we'd missed something.""

Meg Draper, aged 18, died in October from meningococcal type B (MenB) meningitis weeks after starting physiotherapy studies in Bournemouth. She had joined university swimming and netball teams. MenB accounts for 82.6% of meningitis cases in the UK and the MenB vaccine is the only protection; it is available on the NHS only for young children. The childhood vaccine protects for a couple of years and boosters or private vaccination for older children cost about 220. A secondary incidence peak occurs in teenagers, and the JCVI concluded in 2014 that a routine young adult jab was not cost-effective. Parents report widespread unawareness of the separate MenB vaccine and say they would have paid privately.

Read at www.bbc.com