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

over the place

For those of you who have been able to book MenB vaccines, where are you based as non of my local pharmacies have any stock!

I’m not doing any of those things and actually live off campus. I think it’s just the amount of news on it that is scaring me. I’m wondering if it would be worth getting the MenB vaccine? I’ve had ACWY, but like a lot of people it seems, I didn’t realise there was another vaccine for MenB.

I also feel horribly guilty for feeling so anxious when I’m not affected by it. It’s horrendous for those involved.

South London but the slots were disappearing as I booked them and I wouldn't be surprised if they cancelled or postponed as I guess it will take awhile for supply to catch up with demand spike, but my payments have gone through.

It's possible my son's appointment may be cancelled. I will have to wait and see. My son is 15, so is in the 'at risk' category.

I'm in Dorset. I found booking an appointment relatively easy. It remains to be seen if the appointment is cancelled though.

I'm sorry but you seem to be saying you're worried that she's been with you (i.e. in case you get it) rather than actually worrying that she might be unwell. This is awful!

Just seen headlines that there is 1 case in london now ?

I don't know how they know if the cases are related. There will be cases still in other areas.

I think there is woefully inadequate public information for this at the moment. I am not in Kent but lots of young people are out celebrating St Patrick’s day tonight , most will not be vaccinated. In London pubs and bars are packed for the celebration as you’d expect .
I went to check my children’s vaccination status at the gp today, because despite knowing that they hadn’t had the men b jab privately, the whole news story had made me question whether they’d all had the men Acwy jabs at school. The receptionists couldn’t decipher the records and had to wait for a clinician to check , and even then it took a while for them to umm and ahh and give me a ‘erm I think that one’s it.’

I currently have one booked at Boots in Derbyshire tomorrow ( DS17) and one in Boots in Scotland for DS19 at Uni on Sunday. Neither have had Men B simply because I was unaware that this was a vaccine not routinely provided on the NHS. They both had the chicken pox jab privately when little and had I known Men B was not routinely provided together with the other Meningitis vaccines, I would have had them both vaccinated privately and certainly before DS19 went off to Uni.

It’s hideous watching the news and I really feel for the poor parents involved. I guess it’s a wait and see as to whether any of us with appointments get cancelled, or not…

Tried to book an MenB vaccine for myself here in NI and boots are saying no appointments available so I don’t know if they are out of stock

This is getting quite unnerving. A 9 months old baby from Kent is now in hospital in London with it.

The cancellation of some appointments may be due to the national reallocation of vaccine ordered by the UKHSA in order to provide 5,000 urgent vaccinations at the University of Kent (and no doubt some backup stock in case the spread continues).

When are you unis breaking up for easter?

Its awful it really is we may have lock down again hopfully.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cev7rl437epo

It’s not a virus. It’s a bacterial infection. In this case, Neisseria meningitidis group B.

I hope your daughter's friend recovers soon and that your daughter is okay.

I really feel the Men B vaccine needs to be rolled out to all teens. If not, it's surely just a matter of time until this sad scenario happens again.

How many more young people need to die before they decide it's added to the vaccine schedule for those born before 2015? Surely it can't continue on a cost/analysis basis.

They find the money every year for several different vaccines for over 65's, and it's not a competition, but they need to look at the "15-19" age group and the risk of this disease to them.

Stop with the vaping.

According to the BBC 10pm News, they are working on the hypothesis that there was a superspreader in the nightclub on 5, 6 and 7 March, and that further spread has occurred beyond the nightclub crowd to other people including those in university halls of residence. They said one member of staff working at the nightclub is among those ill in hospital (to be clear they did not say whether or not that person was likely to be the superspreader).

@HighburyHope a baby from Kent is also ill and people are saying somerhng about a house party and shared bus.

On the times site a comment said someone died last nov from it Kent.
Obviously random could be biazaely lying but how did a baby get it ?

Unlikely, it’s a bacterial infection and the mode of transmission is different to that of Covid. It’s usually transmitted through close contact e.g kissing, sharing cutlery/cups, likely vaping.
I agree that the speed of the spread is concerning though, and could point to something like a mutated strain