A report has shown that deaths from meningitis C for under-19's in England were at zero in 2007.

Prior to 1999, when the immunisation programme was introduced in the UK, up to 78 children a year were killed by meningitis C. The infection can leave survivors with brain damage.

Now, as a result of one of the most successful immunisation programmes in the world, new cases of meningitis C have fallen by 95% and it is estimated that the vaccination has saved more than 500 lives since 2000.

Other strains of the infection such as the most common meningitis B still pose a problem, with a vaccine some years off.