A campaign has launched across Greater London to raise public awareness of meningitis.

A range of key stakeholders including the patient group Meningitis Now, NHS London, Public Health England, GSK, the Meningitis Research Foundation and the fundraising group Life for a Cure which was set in memory of Ryan Bresnahan who died suddenly from the disease at the age of 16 in 2010, are supporting the campaign.

Pharmacies will give people information about how to prevent infection as part of the initiative, with a particular focus on young Londoners and parents who will be urged to contact their GP to check their meningitis vaccination status.

Meningitis Now and the Meningitis Research Foundation will provide information cards for health professionals on the signs and symptoms which can be downloaded from their websites. The campaign runs until the end of September. 

Cases of invasive meningococcal disease fell by 12 per cent between 2018-19 and 2019-20 according to PHE but there are still concerns about a lack of awareness of the UK’s leading cause of deadly bacterial meningitis.