Find a vaccine

I lost my son Spencer to meningitis and meningococcal septicaemia some time ago and can well imagine the pain that all those who knew him are suffering. On behalf of charity Meningitis UK, which represents thousands of families who have experienced the devastation caused by meningitis, I would like to pass on our heartfelt sympathies to Ian’s family and friends.

Sadly, the disease can kill in hours and can often be incredibly difficult to detect as the symptoms are hard to distinguish from flu or a more common ailment, plus there are occasions when people show no, or very few, symptoms.

For all these reasons, we believe prevention is the only way to truly eradicate the disease.

Developing a preventative vaccine to protect against all forms of meningitis and its associated diseases is our sole focus at Meningitis UK. Our Search 4 a Vaccine Campaign aims to raise £7m to fund lifesaving research into eradicating all forms of meningitis.

We receive no government funding and are reliant on the general public to help us in our fight against the disease and to raise money to put a stop to the heartache and suffering it causes.

Great advances have been made in the past 20 years, including vaccines against hib, meningitis C and pneumococcal meningitis, and our scientists believe that a vaccine can be found for meningococcal meningitis within the next few years if we can raise £7m to support the breakthroughs being made.

In the absence of a vaccine to protect against all strains, we also distribute a wide range of material to raise awareness of the common symptoms and need to act quickly, which can mean the difference between life and death.

If any of your readers would like a symptoms information pack, including wallet-sized symptoms cards, or to find out more about supporting our Search 4 a Vaccine Campaign, they can call Meningitis UK on 0117 373 7373 or visit meningitisUK.org Steve Dayman, Chief Executive, Meningitis UK, Bristol