Meningitis outbreak

[Flipitoff]

I’m freaking out a bit

DD has been here all day after travelling from uni yesterday. Her housemate is really poorly and now I’ve just seen the news about the meningitis outbreak at her uni.

Her housemate is in the house on her own now - I’ve told DD to call the uni and let them know. Worried that DD has been here with us all day in case she gets sick

Just seen it. Are they vaccinated. A double vaccine gives 99% protection

Is that the University of Kent? I've just seen that 2 students have died and others have been hospitalised.

My heart just breaks.

Is your daughter with you now? I'd probably keep her home for a few days, and as you say, get her to contact the uni about her flat mate who is alone and poorly.

Just realised im getting meningitis and measels mixed up

If she hasn’t had the meningitis B vaccination (it’s the one you have to pay for) then I’d keep her home until you’re sure she’s ok.

She hasn’t had the vaccine. It wasn’t in the schedule when she was a baby

Trying to contact the uni to let them know about her housemate

Absolutely contact uni to check on friend.

but surely be grateful your DD is with you? Rather than worried

Meningitis B vaccination has to be paid for separately for this age group. They give it to babies now but didn’t for this age group.

does your daughter have contact details for her housemates parents? I know with my dc they all exchanged details at the start of term in case of emergency

Keep a check on symptoms anyway it can develop really fast going to bed to sleep it off isn't the best thing to do. If she starts with symptoms phone your GP. Headache, not wanting to look at the light etc.
Follow any advice.
And keep a check on her friend.

Call 111 if she’s to poorly to move and hopefully they’ll send ambulance to do a check up on her

Why on earth don't the nhs vaccinate for this

It does - babies receive a vaccine for B, and teens receive ACWY.

It’s part of the schedule now but was introduced around 11 years ago (I think) so older children will have missed out.

Teens have to pay for Men B though. It’s advised to do this before they go to university.

But it only started 11 years ago so the majority of the UK isn't vaccinated

It's so confusing ,kids 2007 onward have they had the vaccine ?

Op I hope your DD is ok ! Thank goodness she's at home with uou

This makes me shiver. I caught it at 22, which is over 40 years ago now. I was very ill and had septicaemia or I think they call it sepsis now. I'm lucky to have survived without amputations. I lost so much muscle strength from being in hospital for weeks on end that I had to learn to walk again.

But it shows that it is not always fatal. Very serious in some cases, and it can be viral too. I was left with deafness, but I am used to that now.

First sign of illness get an antiobiotic into them stat. My dear mother knew something was wrong, she called the GP, he came out in the middle of the night, gave me an injection of antibiotics straight away and the ambulance took me away. That injection probably saved my life.

Shivers indeed.....

It is confusing because there are different versions, their is the meningitis b vaccine and the menACWY one

It was introduced in September 2015 as part of the routine childhood vaccine schedule. Not sure if all regions of the UK implemented it at the same time though?

She’s a 2005 baby - no meningitis vaccines then.

Did she not have ACWY as a teenager though?

So babies born from 2015 have had it and the rest of us should get private vaccines for our teens?

My 2015 baby had the vaccine and at the same time I paid for my 2012 child to have it too as it wasn’t on the nhs schedule when he was a baby

Really hope your DD and her housemate are okay.

I’m as certain as I can be that the MenB vaccine for babies was introduced in 2015, possibly early 2016. My own DD was a baby at the time, and she missed out by months. There was a tragic case of a young child with meningitis in the news at a similar time. We thought there would be a catch-up for babies who had just missed out, but it never happened so DD had it privately as soon as she turned two, as the private vaccine wasn’t available for under twos.

Sadly I think it’s unlikely that many current university students will be vaccinated; it will take another eight years at least until the children who received the vaccine on the NHS reach university age.

She will probably have had the ACWY in Yr 9 OP ( both my DC did 2001 and 2004 babies).
Keep her with you and keep an eye on her.

I have just read that somerhng is given on year 9