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

Thanks - I noted the length of effectiveness for toddlers in this article but I can't work out how that might translate for an older child - might be less. I would imagine my ds would need a booster. He can always ask himself now and it was interesting to read the part about GPs and requests for the vaccine. Thanks for the link

@zehrkyBerlun FWIW, New Zealand (which offers free Bexsero vaccination to adolescents and young adults entering group-living for the first time, such as boarding school or university halls) treats 5 years as the period beyond which re-vaccination may be needed. So e.g. if a NZ teenager went to boarding school at 13, they might need re-vaccination before going to university at 18. I don’t know what evidence this is based on, though.

Thanks @FunnyCradockand @HighburyHope.

The reporting on this is interesting… Sky news has an expert saying it’s concerning and unusual, mentioning the change in behaviour could be a new strain -which seems quite premature to make a statement like that. Have they already figured out it’s a new strain?

https://news.sky.com/story/meningitis-outbreak-latest-university-student-and-school-pupil-die-as-11-also-fall-ill-13520387

The fact th

That’s what I wondered. I feel they don’t often report like this unless they’re pretty sure it’ll turn out to be a new strain. Also the coverage is pretty intense

@Flipitoffhow is your DDs housemate?

I paid for both mine to have it in 2015 as my dad nearly died of it and it was terrifying. He was an older man so rare to get it at his age. I’m wondering to get a booster as they are now 18&20 tho neither in uni yet. It’s so sad. I really pray it’s not a new strain

I got bacterial meningitis from my mum being at uni around 25 years ago. I spent 4 months in hospital

if you can get her vaccinated I would do.

So…this is true.

I went from feeling unwell to literally dying within an hour. I couldn’t stand. Couldn’t open my eyes. I was vomiting blood. I couldn’t even move my head was so painful

the that’s it. I don’t remember the next month. My mum said I didn’t move. Didn’t talk.

they are right. You’d know as you’re so incredibly unwell and it’s quick. Really really quick.

The BBC reporting is angling towards Men B. But no one will know yet.

This. I couldn’t even move I was so sick

i even had a tiny bit of the rash. That’s the last symptom the rash. Most people don’t survive it.

I went from being ok to dying and vomiting blood with a pain in my head that felt like a thousand knifes within an hour!

I couldn’t have phoned anyone. I couldn’t move.

One death was a school pupil. Other a student. The professor from Sheffield university on radio 4 said it’s close contact that matters. Usually passed on by snogging as the infection lies in the back of the throat. He says there’s a lot of misinformation about and taking antibiotics won’t stop anyone getting it. He says a club closed because of it which is not remotely necessary. You cannot catch it from a club. Close contact with someone carrying it is the normal way and always has been. Too few young people have the vaccination prior to 6th form or uni. Needs to be made clear that it’s necessary.

It should only be £110 per dose. That's what I paid in December and January, for my daughter at Boots

Offered by whom?

Do you have a link to that please? I keep looking to see if they have said which type but haven't found anything.

Sorry, but it is not just spread via kissing. Sneezing, coughing , sharing drinks and cutlery are all ways that meningitis can spread from person to person.

It's on the live feed on the website - just lots of coverage of what Men B is.

I went abroad last year and before I went I asked for a check on what I had been vaccinated against and if any are missing. The doctor phoned and wen through it and told me I had 1 meningitis missing so they arranged for me to go get it.
point is, you can ring you doc and find out. Although I imagine there will be a lot of calls about this now.
xxx

DD had the first vax on the same day as the flu Vax in December. No side effects from either. I am taking her for the 2nd booster in the easter holidays.

Not in the UK.

Most of the parents I know have had to arrange Men B themselves privately. Lots of chat about this over the last few months on the year group whatsapp ahead of uni.

Thank you for all the sensible chat on this thread, I’ve just booked my 19 and 17 yr olds in for the menB vaccine at boots. What a tragedy for those families.

Dd got the MenACWY Vaccine Before heading off to Uni I called the GP's office who did it and they never charged me, maybe they were supposed to. Not sure, but I'd recommend you get her done while she's home.

Also (anecdotally) at least one of the Kent schools with an affected Y13 has communicated to parents that it is suspected to be the B strain. Obviously not confirmed yet.

ACWY is free on the NHS. B is not.

Oh, I share your pain and hope you have recovered. I have had viral meningitis twice.. the first time contracted it at Millennium New Year. I was alone at home, developed the most horrendous sore throat, then a headache that felt ilike it was being crushed… luckily I managed to call 999 from a landline before I collapsed… the Paramedics managed to get in and whisk me off and I, too, was in isolation for a week,