By Paul Sandle
LONDON, March 18 (Reuters) – Britain will roll out meningitis vaccines to students at a university in southeast England after an “unprecedented” outbreak of the disease killed two people while the number of new cases jumped to 20.
The UK Health Security Agency said all those affected were young people. A 21-year-old student at the University of Kent and a teenage student at a school in the town of Faversham have died.
Six of the nine confirmed cases are group B (MenB), the agency added. It is also aware of a baby with a confirmed MenB infection who is not currently linked to the outbreak.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting described the outbreak as “unprecedented in its spread.”
Britain has offered a MenB vaccine to infants since 2015, meaning most current university students are unlikely to have received it.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said the risk of invasive meningococcal disease to the general population in the European Union and European Economic Area is “very low”.
France has reported one case of IMD in a person possibly linked to the same outbreak, the agency said.
STUDENTS AT RISK
Symptoms of meningococcal meningitis and septicaemia can include fever, headache, rapid breathing, drowsiness, shivering, vomiting, and cold hands and feet. Septicaemia can also cause a characteristic rash that does not fade when pressed with a glass.
Young people attending university or college are particularly at risk because they mix with other students, some of whom may be unknowingly carrying the bacteria in their noses and throats.
The majority of cases were linked to the Club Chemistry nightclub in Canterbury between March 5–7, Streeting said.
The UKHSA said it had administered around 2,500 doses of antibiotics across sites in Kent.
“As a further precaution, and together with the NHS, we are beginning to roll out a targeted MenB vaccination programme,” said Trish Mannes, UKHSA Regional Deputy Director for the South East, on Wednesday.
“This will initially be offered to 5,000 University of Kent students residing at the Canterbury campus, with the possibility of extension as the situation remains under continual review.”
GSK is in dialogue with UK authorities regarding a targeted vaccination plan to help address the outbreak, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Streeting noted that in a normal year, Britain would see about 350 cases. “The general risk is low, even though the disease itself is extremely serious,” he said.
Lilith Whittles, an assistant professor at the MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis at Imperial College London, said there was an effective vaccine against MenB, reducing risk by around 70–85% against vaccine-preventable strains.
“Targeted vaccination with 4CMenB is being offered as part of the outbreak response to help reduce further cases. However, vaccine protection is not immediate: it typically takes around one to two weeks for immune responses to develop,” she said.
“In the meantime, offering preventative antibiotics to those who may have been exposed remains essential.”
(Reporting by Paul Sandle, additional reporting by Bhanvi Satija and Mariam Sunny; Editing by Kate Holton and Louise Heavens)
