CHARITY Meningitis Now is calling for free vaccination against meningococcal group B (Men B) disease to be extended to all children within a family where there has been a case of meningitis, as part of the next phase of its Beat it Now! campaign.

The charity has written to Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt and the Department of Health, and is also asking GPs to support the wider rollout and help provide peace of mind for families already affected by the disease.

The charity and its supporters campaigned for more than two years to see the ground-breaking vaccine for Men B introduced free on the NHS for all newborns.

Over the next decade it could potentially prevent more than 4,000 cases of meningococcal disease in children under five in the UK, a charity spokesman said.

Despite the success of the campaign, the vaccine is only available for the UK’s newborn babies and a small number of children who are susceptible to infection, leaving many young children outside the Government’s timeframe for vaccination.

Now the charity wants to see vaccination extended in cases where there is a family history of the disease.

Meningitis Now chief executive Sue Davie said: “We see every day the devastating impact of meningitis on individuals and families and we know the fear it leaves behind, a fear of meningitis striking again in the family.”

The charity is now calling on the Government and the NHS to find a way of providing the vaccine to young children in situations where there has been a previous meningitis experience in the family.