STUDENTS across Barnsley are being urged to check if they are up to date with jabs before the start of the new term to prevent infections.
Barnsley Council is backing Public Health England’s call to make sure that students are protected and are up to date on their MenACWY and MMR vaccines.
If students or parents are unsure whether they have had the vaccines or if they are up to date on them then they should ring up their GP to check.
The MenACWY vaccine protects against four different strains of meningococcal disease, A, C, W and Y, which can prevent meningitis and septicaemia.
However, it is important to know the signs and symptoms of meningococcal disease as this vaccine doesn’t protect all forms of the disease.
This injection is offered to children aged between 13 and 14 and young adults aged up to 25 who didn’t receive the vaccine while at school.
The MMR vaccine is a combined jab that protects against three separate illnesses - measles, mumps and rubella and is free to anyone who hasn’t received two doses as a child.
In Yorkshire between January 1 and August 13 this year there has been around 80 cases of measles outbreaks.
