The government has announced a major expansion in vaccination against meningitis in Kent after seven new cases of the disease were confirmed in the county, taking the total number of cases to 27.
On a visit to the University of Kent, the health secretary, Wes Streeting, said anyone who attended the Club Chemistry nightclub in Canterbury from 5 March until 15 March should come forward for antibiotics and vaccination.
“We’re expanding vaccination to anyone who’s previously been offered the prophylactic antibiotic,” he added. “These are proportionate steps to help us contain spread and we’re keeping that situation under review.”
That will include students at the University of Kent and some at Canterbury Christ Church University, as well as sixth formers at the four schools and colleges with confirmed or suspected cases of meningitis. The University of Kent said all its students and staff were now eligible for the vaccine.
Prof Susan Hopkins, the chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency, said: “By extending the vaccination programme to everyone who has been offered preventative antibiotics, we are taking an important additional step to protect those most likely to have been exposed. The message is simple: if you have had the antibiotic, you are also eligible for the vaccination.”
In a statement, the UKHSA said other people may also be offered the jab and preventive antibiotics “on a case-by-case basis”.
Officials believe that the strategy of preventive antibiotics and targeted vaccination is proving effective, as the bacteria causing the outbreak is a known strain of meningitis B, the Guardian understands.
But it remains unclear why this outbreak has been so large. Speaking to BBC Breakfast on Thursday, Prof Robin May, the chief scientific officer at UKHSA, said there were two possible reasons for such a large number of cases from a single event: “One is that there might be something about the kind of behaviours that individual people are doing. The other possibility is the bacteria itself may have evolved to be better at transmitting.”
The UKHSA said on Thursday that 15 laboratory cases had been confirmed and 12 notifications remained under investigation.
So far, 600 meningitis B vaccines have been administered at the University of Kent’s Canterbury campus and more than 6,500 precautionary doses of antibiotics have been issued to students. One school pupil and one university student have died in what officials said on Wednesday was the quickest-growing outbreak they had ever seen.
Canterbury Christ Church University, also in Kent, confirmed on Wednesday that one of its students had meningitis, meaning confirmed or suspected cases have been reported at two universities and four schools.
The UKHSA said there was also one student with meningitis at a higher education institution in London, whose case was directly linked to the Kent outbreak.
Meningitis is an infection of the protective lining of the brain and spinal cord. It is caused by different bacteria and viruses. Meningitis B is caused by the Neisseria meningitidis bacteria, also known as the meningococcus. This bacteria usually lives harmlessly in people’s throats, but can cause life-threatening disease if it gets into the blood or spinal fluid. Prompt treatment with antibiotics is crucial.
The UKHSA has also issued an alert for the wider NHS in England about the signs and symptoms of meningitis, but stressed this did not signal that the outbreak was going to spread nationwide.
Trish Mannes, the UKHSA’s regional deputy director for south-east England, said: “Two doses of the MenB vaccine helps protect individuals against meningococcal B disease. It is important to know that the MenB vaccine does not protect against all strains of meningococcal disease, nor against all infections that can cause meningitis. It also does not prevent the bacteria from being carried and spread in the community.
“It is therefore still hugely important that people are aware of the signs and symptoms of invasive meningococcal disease, and that they seek immediate medical attention if they or anyone they know develops these signs and symptoms.”
The UKHSA also announced it was making private access to jabs easier, after pharmacies reported they were struggling to obtain vaccines for people who wanted to pay privately. “Given current demand on the private MenB vaccine market, 20,000 doses will also be released from NHS supply to support continuity of private provision, enabling up to 2,000 pharmacies to receive vaccines in the next 48 hours,” it said.
Dr Simon Williams, a public health researcher and lecturer in the College of Human and Health Sciences at Swansea University, said expanding vaccination to to those who may have been exposed was a sensible precaution. He added that while it was good more private vaccines were being made available, “they are expensive privately and many may not be able to afford them, including students who may not have much disposable income”.
“It does still beg the wider question of whether the UK government can make these more widely available to university and perhaps sixth form students, although we will need to wait until the JCVI [Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation] have reviewed this,” he added.
Olivier Picard, the chair of the National Pharmacy Association, said while the additional vaccines were welcome it was unlikely to meet demand, with pharmacies getting “hundreds of thousands of patients seeking vaccination”.
