PHC: University vaccination schemes

When I applied to university, I had no idea that I would be required to receive certain vaccinations. It wasn't until after my last A-Level (which happened to be the last overall) that the head teacher of my sixth form sent an email to the whole of Year 13 outlining what to expect before university in September (should that be your chosen route), and this included the MenB vaccine. At least before this, I knew that being a pharmacy student required me to pass the fitness-to-practice, which included being up to date with my vaccinations. But I had just assumed that this was to make sure people had all of their childhood vaccinations - which I think I have, but I'll have to look into it. My university said it's very rare that people fail the fitness to practice, and it's usually resolved in the first week. I hope I pass; otherwise I won't be able to complete my degree. Anywho, this inspired me to make a blog post on the recommended vaccinations for university students, to hopefully prevent any confusion from passing on to the following year.

The UCAS website itself does have a list of recommended vaccinations, but let's be honest, who really uses it for anything other than applying to universities? Unless that was just me. I can imagine they have some helpful stuff on there, but I was lucky enough to have a dedicated careers and UCAS team at my sixth form, so I was able to ask them about anything I was confused about. Anyways, the four recommended vaccinations for university are the MenB vaccine, MenACWY vaccine, HPV vaccine, and MMR vaccine. I believe the MenB vaccine is a brand new scheme following meningitis outbreaks in some areas of the south of England, as university students are at high risk for developing meningitis. This is because of the residence/halls and being in close contact with new people, especially with international students possibly carrying unique strains of the meningococcal bacteria. Both the MenACWY and HPV vaccines are offered to secondary school students aged 12-13, though they can both be offered up until someone is 25 (the HPV vaccine is also available for men who have sex with men). MMR is offered if someone didn't receive their MMRV vaccine as a child. MMRV is for measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella, which is chickenpox. Since most adults built immunity against chickenpox as a child, it isn't typically offered to people older than 12, hence why the vaccine recommended is only MMR.

I think the recommendations make sense when you think about it or look into it a bit more. Most of the diseases these vaccines protect against can lead to meningitis (MMR, MenB, MenACWY) - it's in the name of the MenB and MenACWY vaccines, as they all just protect against different strains of the meningococcal bacteria (meningococcal B, A, C, W, and Y). Meningitis is a serious disease as it can lead to sepsis and septicaemia, as well as permanent disabilities such as limb loss, blindness, and hearing loss. Whilst they're effective, they don't protect against all types of meningitis. MMR protects against diseases which can all easily be spread amongst people, and can also lead to meningitis, hearing loss, and blindness. If you're pregnant, measles can also lead to premature birth, with the premature foetus also possibly having the same deformities that meningitis causes.

Whilst the HPV vaccine doesn't have anything to do with meningitis, it's just as important. It protects against 9 strains of the human papillomavirus, which can lead to problems such as cervical cancer, mouth cancer, head and neck cancer, anal cancer, and cancer of the genitals. This is spread through skin contact, though most commonly through sex. Up until 2019, it was only offered to Year 8 girls within schools, but now it is offered to Year 8 boys as well. I think this is a great change, though I only found out from researching it that boys could also have it. I don't remember any boys in my secondary getting the vaccine (and this was around 2021), as I believed it was 'promoted' to us as a way to prevent cervical cancer. Through my research, I believe that the HPV vaccine was initially pushed out due to HPV being one of the leading causes of cervical cancer, and, allegedly, this led companies to push people to believe it was only something women could have, as it was more cost-effective. Which is quite sad, and it shows how parts of healthcare can be heavily influenced by money and a few elites.

I believe that there should be more of a scheme explaining what's in vaccinations, as I remember there being a lot of fear-mongering during COVID about the fact that the vaccine includes strains of COVID in it. Which, for people who don't know how vaccines function, is how vaccines work. If I remember rightly from GCSE biology, most vaccinations contain either a weak or a dead version of the virus or bacteria, or whatever the vaccine is designed to protect against (or at least certain proteins), to train the immune system to recognise and fight it. Think of being in a gym: you can't move onto the heavier weights before you've perfected your form with no weights or a lighter weight, which is kind of what's happening here. The lymphocytes in your body are learning what the antigens on the weakened/dead disease look like, so that it can perfect the antibodies to be remembered for if the actual live disease enters the body. I hope that makes sense, and it could be wrong as I'm going based on memory, so don't take my word as law.

I hope in future, fewer people fear-monger vaccines and stop being anti-vax, and begin to take action to protect themselves, their families, and the people in their communities. Everyone deserves to receive the healthcare they need.

photo from here