Starting university? Check your immunisation record before you go

A record 262,820 UK 18-year-olds were accepted onto UK university and college courses on this year’s results day, with clearing adding more since ¹. If you are one of them, you are about to meet a few hundred new people in a single week.

While this is the fun part, it is also why first-year students are the group public health teams focus on: living in close quarters increases the risk of spreading meningococcal bacteria, with the risk of invasive meningococcal disease in first-year students being around seven times higher than in young people the same age who don’t go to university ².

So before you go, it’s important to check your vaccination history is up to date. and if not, which ones are missing. If you’re a parent reading this, take a moment to go over their health history with them before they head off, and encourage them to visit their GP if there are gaps.

Some immunisations to check

MenACWY – one dose, usually given in year 9 or 10
MenB – two doses.
MMR – two doses
HPV – one dose

Full list available on the NHS website here ³.

For healthcare courses, your university’s occupational health team will ask you for your immunisation history before placements.

Your red book is a good start. However, because it is a handwritten paper booklet (often incomplete), it may be difficult to physically locate. More importantly, because anyone can write in it, it’s not something all occupational health teams will treat as verified evidence.

Your GP practice’s record is different. It is the verified clinical record of what was actually given, and it is the source universities and occupational health teams accept.

Finding immunisations in PKB

The recent release of the PKB’s Immunisation feature is one way to check you’re up to date. The integration allows patients to view a copy of their immunisation data that the GP has released – so this is verified clinical data.

Anyone wishing to add a copy of their GP data (including immunisations) for the first time can find the details here. Once the patient gives consent, PKB’s platform will automatically store future data the GP releases to the patient, each time the patient logs into PKB.

For more details about where to find immunisations in PKB, please see our user manual page here.

For more information about our GP data integration and frequently asked questions, please refer to our user manual page here.

Gaps in your immunisation history

Even if an entry is missing, you may still have been vaccinated. Records can be incomplete if you have changed practice, were vaccinated abroad or somewhere that didn’t feed back to your GP. Check with your GP surgery if you have concerns: they can tell you whether to repeat a dose or arrange a blood test.

Two minutes now saves a phone call home in freshers’ week.

About the author: Dr Jakevir Shoker is a medical doctor passionate about the role technology plays in modern healthcare. Alongside his NHS clinical work, he recently joined the team as the Digital Clinical Safety Officer at PKB.

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