UK health experts are recommending that all teenagers aged 15 receive a free meningitis B (MenB) vaccine, marking a shift from previous guidelines.This recommendation follows concerns over the UK's largest and fastest-growing meningitis outbreak in Kent earlier this year, which resulted in two deaths.

A one-off vaccination campaign is already underway for university students, but advisers are urging the government to make MenB jabs routine for secondary school-aged individuals to better protect them against a potentially deadly disease.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has revised its stance based on 'recent new evidence', stating that the vaccine can prevent life-threatening complications such as meningitis, sepsis, and long-term disabilities like hearing loss or amputations.

While the financial cost of implementing this programme would be decided by UK ministers, the JCVI emphasises that vaccination remains a critical public health measure.Parents have privately purchased vaccines for their children since the Kent outbreak, highlighting the need for widespread access.The recommendation includes two doses for teens aged 15, with those who received the jab as babies requiring only a single booster.Pharmacies are offering free MenB jabs to university-bound students this summer as part of a preventive effort.