MenC Vaccine (Meningococcal C Vaccine)

Vaccine

Expand All

This vaccine gives protection against meningococcal disease, a major cause of meningitis, that is caused by group CNeisseria meningitidis bacteria.

The MenC vaccination programme was introduced in the UK in 1999 and quickly led to a dramatic fall in the number of cases of MenC disease. Meningococcal bacteria are commonly carried in the back of the throat and passed around from person to person in an unvaccinated population. The vaccine prevents the carriage (the harbouring of) MenC bacteria in the back of the throat which means that even people who are not vaccinated are protected by herd immunity.

The single vaccine programme ended in 2016. Instead, babies and children were protected through the Hib/MenC vaccine given at one year of age, and the MenACWY vaccine given to teenagers.

However, the Hib/MenC vaccine for babies, Menitorix, is being discontinued by its manufacturer for commercial reasons. The UK government’s scientific advisory committee on vaccines, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), has advised that MenC is now being controlled through the vaccination of adolescents, so babies born on 1 July 2024 onwards will no longer get MenC vaccine through the Hib/MenC.

Currently, there are almost no cases of MenC disease in infants or young children in the UK. According to the UK Health Security Agency, there was just one reported in 2023/2024 in children aged 5 to 9, and two reported in adults over the age of 25.

Before vaccination, there were nearly 1000 cases a year and 70-80 deaths a year – Public Health England and Health Protection Agency Archive. 

 

 

From July 2025 only adolescents, who are around the age of 14 years old, will receive MenC vaccination routinely, as part of the MenACWY vaccine given to teenagers in Years 9 or 10 at school.

Between 2016 and July 2025, babies were offered the MenC vaccine at 12 months old, in the Hib/MenC vaccine. But the Hib/MenC vaccine, Menitorix, was discontinued, for commercial reasons, by its manufacturer.

Since MenC is well-controlled currently through the adolescent vaccination programme, infants will no longer receive this vaccine. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation has advised that maintaining high adolescent vaccination rates  is therefore crucial for protecting babies.

People aged between 15 and 25 who missed having their MenACWY vaccine at school, or who are unsure, can still get the vaccine from their GP.

 

The frequency and type of side effects are slightly different for the three MenACWY vaccines used in the UK (Menveo, Nimenrix and MenQuadfi). For full information on side effects, ask for the patient information leaflet for the vaccine you are offered. As a general guide, side effects may be experienced as listed below.

Very common (affecting more than 1 in 10 people at each dose):

  • pain, redness and swelling at the injection site
  • headache
  • feeling tired, irritable or sleepy
  • feeling generally unwell
  • loss of appetite
  • fever

Many of the common symptoms can be relieved by giving paracetamol or ibuprofen.

Common (affecting up to 1 in 10 people at each dose):

  • stomach upsets (such as feeling sick, diarrhoea or vomiting)
  • a hard lump or a large amount of redness and swelling at the injection site
  • rash
  • muscle or joint pain

Uncommon (affecting up to 1 in 100 people at each dose):

  • in babies: crying or sleeplessness
  • dizziness
  • loss of feeling, warmth or itching at the injection site

Rare (affecting up to 1 in 1000 people at each dose):

  • swelling of the injected limb
  • febrile convulsions (fits)
  • diarrhoea, stomach pain
  • enlarged lymph nodes

It is quite common for teenagers to have panic attacks before vaccination, or to faint during vaccination. These should not be confused with reactions to the vaccination itself.

As with any vaccine, medicine or food, there is a very small chance of a severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis). Anaphylaxis is different from less severe allergic reactions because it causes life-threatening breathing and/or circulation problems. It is always extremely serious but can be treated with adrenaline.

Health care workers who give vaccines know how to do this. In the UK between 1997 and 2003 there were a total of 130 reports of anaphylaxis following ALL immunisations. Around 117 million doses of vaccines were given in the UK during this period. This means that the overall rate of anaphylaxis is around 1 in 900,000.

If you are concerned about any reactions that occur after vaccination, consult your doctor. In the UK you can report suspected vaccine side effects to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) through the Yellow Card Scheme.

The MHRA has a particular interest in any side effects from the MenQuadfi vaccine, as this is a newly licensed product. As with any vaccine, it has undergone all the usual rigorous testing before it was licensed.  

You can contact the MHRA to ask for data on Yellow Card reports for individual vaccines. See more information on the Yellow Card scheme and monitoring of vaccine safety.

 

 

The MenACWY vaccines used in the UK are called Menveo, Nimenrix and MenQuadfi. Apart from the active ingredients (the antigens), they contain very small amounts of these ingredients:

  • sucrose (sugar), used as a stabiliser
  • sodium chloride (salt)
  • sodium acetate (MenQuadfi only)
  • water 

The vaccines may also contain traces of these products used during the manufacturing process:

These ingredients can all be used in food manufacturing.

Other brands of MenACWY vaccines used in other countries may contain different ingredients. If you are not in the UK, ask for the patient information leaflet for the vaccine you are offered.

 

 

Following the introduction of the MenC vaccine in 1999, the number of cases of meningococcal disease caused by group C bacteria fell by over 90% in vaccinated groups. There was a very slight rise in cases since 2014-15. MenC cases then continued to fall, and remain low, with 27 cases in 2019-2020, five cases in 2020-2021, one case reported in 2021 - 2022 and three cases in 2023 - 2024. 

menc cases

Click here for an accessible text version of this graph

Sources: Public Health England , UK Health Security Agency and the Health Protection Agency Archive 

With the introduction of the MenC vaccine, and the changing patterns of disease circulating, the vaccination schedule for MenC in the UK has changed a number of times:

  • 1999: MenC vaccination was introduced for babies,with a three dose schedule. A first dose was given at 2 months of age, with further doses at 3 and 4 months. There was a catch-up for children aged up to 18 years.
  • 2006: a two dose schedule at 3 and 4 months was introduced, with a combined MenC and Hib (Hib/MenC vaccine) booster dose given at 12-13 months. 
  • June 2013: the MenC dose at 4 months was dropped from the schedule. By this time levels of MenC disease had fallen very significantly, and studies showed that a single dose at 3 months provided good levels of protection against group C meningococcal disease during the first year of life.
  • September 2013: a MenC booster dose was introduced for teenagers aged 13 to14. The aim was to boost protection against MenC disease for individuals and to maintain high levels of herd immunity.
  • Summer of 2014: all those starting university were recommended to receive the MenC vaccine. It was likely that young people born between 1995 and 1999 would have been vaccinated as young children during the MenC catch-up programme in 1999 and 2000. However, they would have missed out on the new booster dose introduced in 2013.
  • Summer of 2015: the single MenC dose for teenagers and new university students was replaced by a combination vaccine, the MenACWY vaccine, which offered protection against four strains of meningococcal disease including type C. It was introduced because of a significant increase in cases of MenW disease in the UK.
  • 1st July 2016: the single MenC dose given at 3 months was dropped from the schedule. This was because levels of MenC disease were now so low that babies under 1 year of age were well protected by herd immunity.

July 2025

MenC vaccine was dropped from the UK schedule for babies and infants in July 2025. Although this was driven by the discontinuation of the Hib/MenC vaccine, Menitorix, for commercial reasons, the expert scientific advisory committee that advises the UK government, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, the JCVI advised that instead of replacing the Hib/MenC vaccine:

  • an additional dose of Hib-containing multivalent (containing multiple strains) vaccine should be offered at 12 or 18 months of age. The government has created a new immunisation visit at 18 months from January 2026 to accommodate this – an extra dose of the 6-in-1 vaccine. This also provides protection against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough (pertussis), polio and hepatitis B.
  • the second dose of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine be brought forward from 3 years 4 months to 18 months of age to improve coverage.
  • The JCVI did not recommend including a MenC-containing vaccine (such as MenACWY) into the infant schedule because of the demonstrated decline of invasive meningococcal A, C, W and Y disease in the UK. This is primarily due to the success of the teenage MenACWY vaccination programme and the subsequent low number of cases of disease. But they have advised that efforts to sustain and improve coverage of MenACWY in adolescents are important to maintain herd immunity and protect babies and infants.

See the JCVI statement here 

 

Page last updated Thursday, June 26, 2025