Research

Meningitis UK's single focus is to develop a vaccine to eradicate all forms of meningitis and associated diseases. Since the charity's inception in 1999, Meningitis UK has invested over £2 million into meningitis research projects and we don't plan to stop until we achieve our vision.

Find out how you can help us achieve our goal.

Why is vaccine research needed?

Meningitis can kill in under 4 hours and is a notoriously difficult disease to diagnose as in the early stages symptoms can appear flu-like, which is why finding a vaccine is so urgent.

Sadly, newspapers report on the pain of families who have suffered from meningitis and its associated diseases almost every day. Official statistics show that there are approximately 2,300 cases of meningitis and meningococcal septicaemia in the UK each year, of which more than 300 will die and hundreds more will be left with permanent disabilities.

Finding a vaccine to prevent all types of meningitis remains one of the biggest challenges to modern medicine. Whilst vaccines exist to protect against certain forms of meningitis, there is still no vaccine to protect against the most common form of bacterial meningitis in the UK - Meningitis B.

The good news is that our scientists across the UK are working tirelessly to develop a successful vaccine.

Read about our current projects.

Why is it so difficult to find a vaccine?

Scientists know that one in 10 people have the meningitis-causing bacteria Neisseria meningitidis living harmlessly in their noses and throats. But what they don't know is why the bacteria sometimes become harmful, spreading to the tissues surrounding the brain causing meningitis and crossing into the bloodstream causing septicaemia.

The search for a vaccine is also complicated because the different meningitis-causing bacteria have different capsules and properties, so a vaccine which can fight one sort, might not be able to fight another. The challenge is to find a universal vaccine which can stop the spread of all forms of the bacteria.

What is Meningitis UK's role in funding research?

Meningitis UK is the leading meningitis charity funding vaccine development research undertaken in the UK.

Meningitis UK is a member of the Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC) - the leading umbrella organisation representing medical research charities. The organisation provides guidance and shares best practice. All of AMRC's member charities are required to have a clearly defined research strategy and demonstrate good peer review when awarding research grants.

In the UK, a third of research funding is from charities. The combined contribution of AMRC's member charities is greater than that of the Medical Research Council or the Dept. of Health (including the NHS).

Why Meningitis UK only funds research in the UK

There are many different strains of meningitis and the prominence of the different strains varies from country to country. The UK has also always been at the forefront of meningitis research. The knowledge gained through the research we fund is not only moving us closer to finding a vaccine in the UK, but also adding to the global understanding of these bacteria which will help the fight against theses diseases worldwide.

Meningitis UK's Annual Research Awards

Every year Meningitis UK places an advert in the British Medical Journal inviting established research groups across the UK with a track record in preventative research into meningitis and its associated diseases to apply for a grant to aid existing or new research.

All applications are reviewed by specially selected international medical experts who act as referees and comment on the scientific merit of the proposed projects. The applications are then reviewed by Meningitis UK's own Scientific Medical Advisory Panel made up of top scientists within the field of meningitis, who help us by scrutinising project proposals to ensure that the money we receive is used to fund top-quality, cutting-edge research.

All of our researchers ensure that all useful knowledge acquired from their research is made widely available to further the charity's aim to find a vaccine to eradicate bacterial meningitis and meningococcal septicaemia.

We are very pleased to say that Meningitis UK has been awarded National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Partnership Status. This means that our research teams are eligible for NHS support costs on top of the grants we provide.

Find out more about the current projects we are funding, or about the progress that has been made as a result of past research studies.

If you are interested in applying for next year's research award round, please visit our research grants page.