NICE (National Institute for Health & Care Excellence) expert committee provided new guidelines for GPs to always suspect bacterial meningitis strongly in people with the ‘red flag’ combination of symptoms including fever, headache, stiff neck and altered level of consciousness. They said meningitis can present with non-specific symptoms and signs, develop rapidly and can be difficult to distinguish from other infections. Doctors should be on alert for the condition when immunizations have been missed.

NICE stated, “The introduction of meningitis vaccines for teenagers and young adults has seen a reduction in recent years in the incidence of invasive meningococcal disease”.

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