OXFORD'S colleges are advising their students to be immunised against meningitis.

The move comes after the Government's Chief Medical Officer Prof Liam Donaldson urged students to have the vaccination before the start of the autumn term.

Oxford Brookes University is writing to its first year students advising them to be immunised against meningitis C before they arrive. But its medical centre is gearing up to vaccinate those who need the injection when they arrive.

A leaflet explaining the symptoms to look out for will be given to freshers. The university is being particularly vigilant after 19-year-old student Adam Prior died in February of meningitis C and, in an unrelated incident, another student contracted meningitis B and later recovered.

An Oxford Brookes spokesman said: "First-year students are one of the highest-risk group as they have not had time to build up their immune system. Meningitis lives at the back of the throat and about ten per cent of the population carry it without suffering the symptoms. We are trying to encourage students to go to their own GP before they come here, but if for any reason it proves that they cannot do that, then we would vaccinate them." Oxford College of Further Education, where another student contracted meningitis and recovered earlier in the year, is to be visited by a nurse who will vaccinate students aged 15 to 17.

Oxford University's central administration is sending letters to all its colleges to make sure that they heed Prof Donaldson's advice. A spokesman said: "We would ensure that students are told what to look out for and to look after their peer group."

Story date: Saturday 04 September

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