Universities are being urged to step up their emergency plans to deal with outbreaks of meningitis among their students.
Every university should set up a mass communication programme to inform students of the symptoms of meningococcal disease, Universities UK, an umbrella group for university vice-chancellors, said today.
Meningitis is a rare but fatal disease. Health Protection Agency statistics reveal that in 2002 there were 54 confirmed cases in universities out of a national total of around 2,000, and four students died from the illness.
However more people are suspected of contracting the disease though their condition has not been diagnosed through laboratory tests. Students aged 16-19 living in close-knit accommodation are particularly vulnerable to meningitis.
Meningococcal disease is an acute infectious disease caused by bacterium which live in the human throat and is commonly carried without ill effect. However, illness can develop very rapidly and is fatal in 5-10% of cases. The peak season for outbreaks is during the winter months.
Illness is due to septicaemia (blood poisoning), meningitis (an infection of the fluid of surrounding a person's brain and spinal cord) or a combination of the two. Treatment is via strong and rapid doses of antibiotics.
The guidelines being sent out today calls on universities to set up information programmes warning students of the symptoms of the disease, to develop links with local health protection agencies and doctors' clinics to gather information on outbreaks and to make sure students are getting the right advice on health issues.
Students are also more vulnerable because mumps can lead to a variation of meningitis. This year there have been mumps outbreaks at campuses across the country, most recently at Oxford University where 25 cases were confirmed by the end of term two weeks ago. All students at the university are now being offered vaccinations.
However, in recent years a vaccine against one strain, meningitis C, has seen a decrease in infections. But there is no vaccination against meningitis B, the more common variety. All students under the age of 25 are being urged to be vaccinated.
Dr James Stuart, the guidelines coordinator and director of South West Health Protection Agency, said: "Meningitis and septicaemia still pose a risk to our university and college students. The disease can strike very quickly and it is notoriously difficult to diagnose in its early stages. First-year students who may not yet have established good access to local health services are at higher risk.
"Tragic experience has informed these guidelines' key points - encouraging action to aid the prompt diagnosis of the disease, raising awareness among students and staff, and setting out the public health steps to be taken following a case or an outbreak of meningococcal disease.
"These guidelines will assist universities and their local health service to draw up plans for handling the disease. Those plans will help save lives."
Baroness Warwick, the chief executive of Universities UK, said: "Universities take the welfare of their students very seriously and these comprehensive guidelines produced for the whole sector, in partnership with health organisations, will help individual institutions prepare for and deal with any cases of this disease.
"These guidelines highlight the importance of collaboration between universities and the health sector."
The symptoms of meningitis include:
· A rash which does not fade when pressed against with glass;
· Loss of consciousness;
· Severe neck stiffness
· Very cold hands or feet; or
· Severe and worsening headache (without other obvious cause).
· Meningitis Trust helpline 0845 600 0800
