Am I at risk from meningitis?

Meningitis is a severe disease, but it's relatively uncommon. Anyone can get meningitis, but there are some factors that put people at higher risk. These include:

• Your age.
• Where you live.
• Exposure to environmental factors.
• Whether you have existing medical conditions.
• Whether you've been in contact with someone that has a contagious cause of meningitis.

Healthy people without any of these risk factors can also get meningitis. We don’t always know why, so continued research into these diseases is vital for prevention and for improved treatment.

Here we explain how the risk factors affect your chances of suffering from meningitis.

Age

Young children are at highest risk of getting meningitis because their immune systems are less developed than older age groups. But other age groups can still be vulnerable to certain types of the disease.

Young babies

Newborn babies are at the highest risk of meningitis of all age groups. In the UK, babies under the age of three months are 70 times more likely to get bacterial meningitis than adults.¹

Toddlers

Toddlers are a high-risk age group for bacterial meningitis.

Teenagers and young adults

Teenagers and young adults are at increased risk of meningitis caused by meningococcal bacteria.

Meningococcal bacteria can live harmlessly in the back of the nose and throat of people of all ages, but teenagers and young adults are much more likely to harbour these bacteria than other age groups. This increases their risk of disease.

The high carriage rate in teenagers could be due to several factors, including contact patterns and social behaviour. Contact rates are highest among people of the same age, and increased social gatherings and kissing partners can lead to the germs being passed on at a higher rate. These behaviours are often prevalent among teenagers.²

Older adults

Adults over the age of 65 are at an increased risk of certain types of meningitis, including pneumococcal meningitis.

Geography

Where you live in the world influences your risk of getting meningitis. 

An area of Sub-Saharan Africa known as the Meningitis Belt has the highest prevalence of meningitis. This area stretches from Senegal to Ethiopia and is prone to large outbreaks of disease (known as epidemics). Warm and dusty winter winds damage mucous membranes in the lungs and throat, which makes it easier for meningitis causing bacteria to invade the body.

Vaccines are being introduced to the Meningitis Belt which are reducing the risk in this region.

Large outbreaks of meningitis and sepsis caused by meningococcal bacteria have been linked to the Hajj pilgrimage. So MenACWY vaccination is a compulsory entry requirement into Saudi Arabia for Hajj pilgrims.

If you live in the UK, travel abroad can increase your risk of exposure to certain viruses and bacteria that can cause meningitis. An up-to-date list of countries with potential risk can be obtained from www.nathnac.org.

You can learn more about the burden of disease across the world with our Meningitis Progress Tracker.

Environment

Certain environmental factors can increase your risk of getting meningitis. 

Living in crowded or close conditions can make it easier for the germs that cause meningitis to pass from person to person.³ As a result, we’ve seen higher numbers of meningitis cases associated with student halls of residence, military barracks and refugee camps.

Meningitis risk can be seasonal. We see more cases of bacterial meningitis in the winter. This is because some of the bacteria that cause meningitis can more easily invade the body after you’ve been unwell with a virus like flu.⁴ However, viral meningitis is more common in the summer. This is because we’re more likely to be exposed to many of the viruses that cause it in the summer months.

If you smoke or are exposed to second-hand smoke, you’re more likely to carry certain bacteria that can cause meningitis in the back of your nose and throat. Exposure to dust and smoke can also increase your risk of getting meningitis. This is because irritation or damage to the lining of the nose and throat can make it easier for germs that cause meningitis to invade the body.⁵

Medical conditions

Certain medical conditions can put you at higher risk of meningitis, including: 

• Asplenia or splenic dysfunction (where you don’t have a spleen or your spleen doesn’t function properly).
• Coeliac disease (a condition where your immune system attacks your gut so your body cannot properly take in nutrients).
• Sickle cell disease (an inherited health conditions that affects your red blood cells).
• Cerebrospinal fluid leaks (a condition where there is break in the membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord which allows fluid to leak out and increases the risk of germs getting into this area of the body).
• Chronic heart disease.
• Chronic kidney disease (including haemodialysis patients).
• Chronic liver disease.
• Chronic neurological disease.
• Chronic respiratory disease.
• Cochlear implants.
• Complement disorders (a problem with the immune system which can make you more susceptible to meningococcal meningitis).
• Diabetes.
• Immunosuppression (due to diseases like HIV or treatments like chemotherapy).

If you have any of these conditions, you may be entitled to additional vaccines or vaccine doses that will increase your protection against meningitis. Speak to your doctor to make sure that you have taken up all the vaccines available to you.

Contact with a case

Cases of meningitis are usually isolated, so you’re not usually at risk if you’ve been in contact with a meningitis patient.

Occasionally, close contacts of a person with bacterial meningitis are at increased risk of getting disease or of passing it on to others. When this happens, public health doctors will get in touch with close contacts and offer them antibiotics or vaccination. This is called contact tracing.

Not all types of meningitis are contagious, so contact tracing is not needed for every case. It’s most likely to be used when the meningitis is caused by meningococcal bacteria, Haemophilus influenzae type b, tuberculosis bacteria (occasionally) and pneumococcal bacteria (rarely).

In the UK and Ireland, meningitis that requires contact tracing is most often caused by meningococcal bacteria. If you’ve been in contact with someone who is ill with meningitis or sepsis caused by meningococcal bacteria and are worried about becoming ill or passing the infection to others, download our 'Am I at Risk?' leaflet for more information:

• Am I at Risk? (UK)
• Am I at Risk? (Ireland)

What are the after-effects of pneumococcal meningitis?

Pneumococcal meningitis affects everyone differently. Most people make a full recovery without any lasting problems. But in some cases, it can cause ongoing problems which may need further treatment and support.

The possible after-effects of pneumococcal meningitis include:

• Learning and intellectual disabilities such as memory loss, lack of concentration or issues with thinking and problem solving.
• Clumsiness and co-ordination problems.
• Headaches.
• Deafness, hearing problems, tinnitus, dizziness or loss of balance.
• Epilepsy or seizures.
• Weakness, paralysis or spasms.
• Loss of sight or vision problems.
• Hydrocephalus (fluid on the brain).
• Mental health issues and changes to personality or behaviour.
• Difficulties with sleep.
• Fatigue.
• Anxiety and depression.

Approximately one third of survivors of pneumococcal meningitis around the world have some type of after-effect.⁵ The risk of after-effects can vary by country.

Hearing loss and neurological after-effects are more common in survivors of pneumococcal meningitis than in other forms of bacterial meningitis.^5,6,7 

Long term after-effects of meningitis are usually identified while you are still in hospital. For very young babies it might not be possible to tell if they have any long-term effects until they get older. 

Author: Meningitis Research Foundation.
Reviewed by: Dianne Spalding, Meningitis Research Foundation Ambassador; Hajime Takeuchi, the Japan Child Meningitis Organisation and CoMO member.
Published: 27 December 2024.