These days, when university student Tom is out with his friend Kate, he'll shout her "a drink or two". "She did save my life," the 20-year-old says, "so she deserves it."

Tom Newman would have died in his student flat if Kate Buckingham had come to his rescue two hours later than she did. An hour later, and he might have lost a hand, a foot, part of his memory, his sight and his hearing.

Meningitis acts fast. The day before, Newman had gone to history lectures as normal at Newcastle University. It was Tuesday March 6 last year. "I had a headache and was nauseous in the morning, but I wasn't worried," he says. "I arranged to see a few mates that evening." Then, half-way through his afternoon seminar, Newman deteriorated. "I had a splitting headache - it was the worst pain imaginable. I was doing things really slowly."

He tried to book a doctor's appointment, but - like many students - he hadn't got round to registering at a practice. He was told a nurse would see him the next day in the clinic at 9am. But by 9am everything was a blur. "It was really tricky to do simple things like pick up my mobile to see a text. It throbbed to look at light and, huddled by the radiator with several layers on, I still felt cold."

Locked door

That morning, Buckingham, a student of ancient history living in the flat above Newman's in Gosforth, Newcastle, called on him to walk to lectures together. "I'm not coming. I'm ill," he whimpered from the other side of his locked door. By the time Buckingham checked on him again - before she started her waitressing shift at 5pm - Newman was delusional.

"He wouldn't unlock his door at first," 20-year-old Buckingham says. "I told him I wasn't going to stop hammering on it until he did. And when he did, he was a greenish-grey and was talking rubbish. I asked if he was drunk; he clearly wasn't. And he had a rash on his arm."

Buckingham remembered that a possible symptom of meningitis is a rash that won't disappear when a glass is placed on it. In fact, the rash is one of the final symptoms of the disease. The tumbler test worked. Could Newman, now unaware who his flatmates were, have meningitis? Buckingham dialled for an ambulance - in time to save her friend's life.

One in four UK students carry the bacteria that cause meningitis at the back of their throats, the Meningitis Trust says. The figure is one in 10 for other adults.

Every year, 3,000 cases of meningitis and septicaemia - the blood poisoning form of the disease - are reported in the UK. The Meningitis Trust estimates that this is just half the number that actually occur. Meningitis kills 10% of those diagnosed with it; a further 15% are left with brain damage, epilepsy or limb loss.

So are universities - and their students - giving it the attention it deserves?

Immunisation

A campaign to immunise all schoolchildren, university students and babies against meningitis C started in 1999. So those starting university now should be covered. But Linda Glennie, head of research at the Meningitis Research Foundation, estimates that one in eight university students haven't had the vaccination.

Mature students, of which there are growing numbers, are "even less likely" to be vaccinated and international students are "very unlikely" to be, she says. In any case, "men C" is just one of the five major strains that make up meningococcal meningitis. It's a too-little-known fact that the men C vaccination doesn't protect against the other four major strains - A, B, Y and W135.

"We know that many, possibly most, students think they can't get meningitis at all if they have been vaccinated for men C," says Glennie. "They often don't realise that the vaccine only protects against that strain. Most people are complacent."

"Students don't have much awareness of meningitis," says Newman. "I had been immunised against meningitis C so I thought I was OK. I thought I had flu. I didn't want to ruin anyone's day by asking if they'd mind taking me to hospital."

In the 1990s, several UK universities had high-profile outbreaks of meningitis C, the largest of which was at Southampton University in 1997 when three students died and three others contracted it. Although scientists think another outbreak of meningitis C in the UK is unlikely now, outbreaks of B - the most common strain - are possible.

Glennie says there are still clusters of two or three cases of meningitis B - the strain Newman caught - in colleges and universities. Last year Aberdeen University and Cambridge University fell prey, she says.

Universities do put considerable effort into drawing attention to meningitis. Almost every fresher's pack alerts students to symptoms and helplines. Universities strongly encourage students to be immunised against men C before they start their courses or, if not, once on campus.

One university is doing all this and more. Newcastle University has produced a DVD capturing Newman's near-death experience - complete with the actual recording of Buckingham's phone call to the emergency services from his flat. It is available to other universities for £30, a third of which goes to meningitis charities. The film's main messages are: look after your mates and know the symptoms. These are precisely the points that need to hit home, say those who've had meningitis or lost loved ones to it.

"Tell your children to look after their friends at university," says Rita Harries, whose daughter Elizabeth died on her 20th birthday from meningitis in 1991 while a student at Umist - now part of Manchester University. "Ask your children whether they've seen the literature on meningitis," Harries says.

"There's a big drive to raise awareness of meningitis in fresher's week, but it's got to go on longer than that," says Charlotte Charteris, who has had her hands, part of her foot and a leg amputated after contracting meningitis W135, aged 18, at art college in 2002. "I want students to be more aware that if someone hasn't come out of their room for a couple of days, everyone should be checking on them."

She urges students who think they have symptoms to seek help as quickly as possible. "I didn't go to the doctor because I thought he or she would think 'huh, teenage girls making a fuss about nothing'."

Charteris also has advice for student clinics. "Why do they have posters of cute babies? They should show what I looked like straight out of hospital with my hands and legs destroyed."

Why are students vulnerable?

Even the experts don't know why students are so much more vulnerable to meningitis than the rest of the adult population. Shared living spaces, exposure to germs from across the country and intimate contact could all play a part.

"The doctors asked me who I'd kissed in the last few weeks while my mum was in the room," says Newman. "It was to see if they needed to put them on antibiotics."

Just after the Christmas holidays and in the winter months, the likelihood of catching meningitis seems to rise. The number of cases across the UK is, however, steady.

More than £1m is spent on meningitis research every year across the world. The Meningitis Research Foundation says scientists are hoping that within three years there will be a vaccine licensed against meningitis B.

Just after Newman came home from hospital, he heard that another student at Newcastle University had died from meningitis.

"It hit home how lucky I had been," he says. "I didn't know it was such a serious disease and I didn't think it was so serious among students. I wouldn't say I've changed - I'm as annoying as I always was. But I'm grateful to still be alive."

Know the symptoms

· Severe headache

· Stiff neck

· Vomiting

· Dislike of bright lights

· Joint pain

· High temperature

· Red or purple rash that does not fade under pressure

The symptoms may not appear in this order - some may not appear at all

· For more information call the Meningitis Trust free on 0800 028 18 28, or the Meningitis Research Foundation's freephone number 080 8800 33 44. Hear Newman and Buckingham tell their story at EducationGuardian.co.uk