Meningitis Cases Rise To 27 In Kent Outbreak

LONDON, March 19 (Bernama-PA Media/dpa)  -- The number of cases of meningitis linked to an outbreak in Kent has risen to 27, according to health officials, reported PA Media/dpa.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said that as of 5 pm (1700 GMT) on Wednesday, 15 cases had been confirmed and a further 12 were under investigation.

The 27 cases either confirmed or under investigation represent a rise on the 20 reported on Wednesday. Two students have died in the outbreak.

Currently, nine of the 15 confirmed cases are known to be caused by menB.

The latest figures come as a Kent public health leader said it cannot yet be confirmed that the outbreak has been contained.

Trish Mannes, UKHSA regional deputy director for the South East, said it is important students still come forward for antibiotics.

Thousands of doses have been handed out to those who attended Club Chemistry in Canterbury from March 5-7, alongside students living in halls at the Canterbury campus of the University of Kent.

Around 5,000 students have also been invited for a menB vaccine.

Mannes 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.

“If you have been offered preventive antibiotics, it is strongly recommended that you take them promptly.

“If you are a student at the University of Kent who is eligible but has since returned home, contact your local GP, who will be able to provide advice and prescribe the appropriate treatment.

“The risk to the wider population remains low. UKHSA continues to actively trace and offer preventive antibiotics to those in close contact with cases.”

The UKHSA said four schools in Kent have confirmed cases of meningitis alongside a case of one student at a higher education institution in London who is linked to the Kent outbreak.

Earlier, Kent County Council’s director of public health Dr Anjan Ghosh told BBC Radio 4’s "Today" programme that it could not be said the outbreak has been contained.

“We’re not in the position yet to say that definitively, that it’s been contained,” he said.

“If you see the daily reporting that’s going on, there are more and more cases being reported, but these cases all relate more or less to that same period of time when the initial exposure happened.

“We are examining what’s called secondary transmission—that is, cases that are then transmitted to a few more people. We need to rule this out before we can confirm that it is fully contained.

He added: “The main advice is there’s no reason to be anxious.

“This is a disease. It’s not Covid. It doesn’t spread the same way that Covid or measles spread.

“It spreads through close, protracted contact, intimate contact. It’s basically people in households, sharing cups, kissing, intimate contact, those kind of things.

“There’s no need to panic or get anxious. People just need to go about their ordinary lives the way they have been.

“However, if people have signs of meningitis, then they need to act fast.”

Professor Robin May, chief scientific officer at the UKHSA, said on Thursday “this is a very unusual outbreak”, adding that experts were looking at why meningitis in these cases may have become more transmissible between people.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Prof May said: “Typically, you would expect to see sporadic cases of meningitis, typically individual patients.

“Most days, actually, we would see one in the UK. This is obviously a much larger number.

“What is particularly remarkable about this case, and unexpected about this case, is the large number of cases all originating from what seems to be a single event.

“There are two possible reasons for that. 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.”

To date, 600 meningitis B vaccines have been administered at the University of Kent Canterbury campus after hundreds of students joined a queue outside the campus sports centre.

Those who have received the injection will need to return for their second dose after a minimum of four weeks while 6,500 antibiotics have also been given out as a precaution, the university said.

Prof May said the bacteria which can cause meningitis can be transmitted by sharing utensils, cups and vapes.

He said: “This is a bacteria that is actually quite widespread.

“A large number of us carry this, about 10 per cent of people my age, slightly higher in younger people, carry this bacteria at the back of their throat anyway, and obviously, the vast majority of us don’t have any problem with disease, but in some cases it can cause severe disease.

“It is transmitted by  relatively close contact.

“It’s transmitted by things like saliva and kissing in particular, but also sharing of utensils, sharing of cups or vapes or those kind of things.”

Prof May added: “Although it’s in the throat, it is not, for example, like Covid or flu. It’s not a respiratory disease in the sense of spreading very easily through the air.

“It does not survive very long on surfaces. People do not need to be concerned about things like public transport, for instance, where you know potentially you might come into contact with somebody with that in your train carriage or your bus.

“But unless you’re in quite close contact for an extended period of time with them, you are not at risk from them.”

Consultant virologist Dr Chris Smith told BBC Breakfast many people can test positive for bacteria that are linked to meningitis, but usually only a small number of people become infected.

He said: “What’s unusual about this case is we’ve gone from something which we know happens but doesn’t normally translate into severe clinical disease, suddenly, with one event, a lot of people have developed the invasive infection.

The UKHSA issued an alert for the NHS across England on Wednesday on signs and symptoms of meningitis to look out for, though this does not signal the outbreak is going to spread nationwide.

The alert said the illness being seen in the Kent outbreak “has been severe with rapid deterioration” and urges clinical staff to take infection control measures in the period before patients are put on antibiotics, such as face masks and other personal protective equipment.

It urges doctors to have a “high index of suspicion where a young person aged 16 to 30 attends with consistent signs or symptoms” of the bug.

Canterbury Christ Church University, also in Kent, confirmed a meningitis case among its students on Wednesday, meaning confirmed or suspected cases have been reported at two universities and five schools.

-- BERNAMA-PA MEDIA/dpa