Freshers’ week is designed to bring new students together. But the same close contact that helps friendships form can also help infections spread.

Most cases of so-called “freshers’ flu” are relatively mild. Meningococcal disease is different. Although rare, it can develop rapidly and become life-threatening within hours.

In England, first-year university students are around seven times more likely to develop meningococcal disease than young people of a similar age who do not attend university.

The danger was highlighted in March 2026, when an outbreak of meningococcal group B, or MenB, around Canterbury involved 21 confirmed cases among students and other young people. Two people died.

Meningococcal bacteria can cause meningitis and sepsis. Meningitis affects the protective layers surrounding the brain and spinal cord, while sepsis occurs when the body’s response to infection causes potentially life-threatening damage. Survivors of meningococcal disease can be left with serious complications including hearing loss, neurological damage and limb amputation.

So why are students particularly vulnerable?

Why university increases the risk?

One of the unusual things about neisseria meningitidis, commonly called meningococcus, is that it can live harmlessly in the nose and throat without........

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