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

Once you’re in a nightclub you don’t tend to need to show id everytime you buy a drink as there’s usually bouncers on the door checking id
Also you have zero idea how the poor girl got it, saying she must have been flirting and hanging off older boys to get drinks is awful

Then you’d think there would be an outbreak at every night club in the country every week as about 10% of the population carry the bacteria in their throats, and adolescents probably are higher

I didn’t say she did. You are distorting what I said.

Any of her friends may have been flirting - its what 17 year olds do. I didn’t say she was having sex with anyone - just that ‘17 year olds’ (which was the age of the group she was with) were very likely mixing with the older uni students in a club (that she legally was not supposed to be allowed in, so there is a separate issue over the club management/policy).

I remember what being a 17 year old out with her friends was about - and they definitely WOULD be mixing with the uni students and older patrons. That is the whole bloody point of going to a club over hanging out in a Costa.

No, I do not think I am being naïve @CautiousLurker2 but thanks for being patronising. And to be fair, that's a weird take. Once you're in to the over 18s establishment, you don't need an over 18 to buy your drink.

Have you got children studying in Canterbury?

My goddaughter is, yes. And she is on antibiotics at home, where she is doing exams on line, and waiting to be advised whether she should go back for the vaccine.

Apologies if you thought I was being patronising. But I also have a 20 year old daughter (and an 17yo DS). All her friends pushed boundaries at 17 in 6th form. We took turns picking them up after they discovered vodka for the first time. It’s a rite of passage and better experienced whilst at home where parents can mop up the carnage.

I did not mean they were flirting for drinks - just that it is easier to get served at the bar if you are with an older person and they do, no matter what the naysayers here think, feel it is cool to be seen with the older uni crowd. It’s disingenuous of PPs here to argue otherwise.

@CautiousLurker2 - have you ever seen the packed Stagecoach Canterbury school buses? Sometimes they are so packed that the buses miss stops because they can't pack any more kids onto them. Coughs and sneezes in this situation are a real worry.

I haven't read back that far but, on a point of order, the school girl was 18. By now , Easter, over half of year 13s are 18.

If she had been doing that, what's the huge deal, anyway? Why shouldn't 17yos flirt, for one reason or another?

It's disgusting that a perfectly ordinary night out had to end like this. Our governments need to shoulddr the blame for not giving the vaccine.

But, at this stage, the incubation period and exposure timeframe for each of the current known patients is linked back to the club/5-7th March? It was more than 10 days ago, so we can;t know if there has been onward contamination in buses yet?

If you’re worried, you could just drive them to school - but on the basis that it is probably just as crowded in the girls loos at break time, I’m not sure what you can do beside choose to keep them home? I’d assume that if they thought it was a risk they’d be rolling out antibiotics at all Canterbury schools? Not that I have much faith in the govt, so maybe that will also happen in the next few days once they have processed the students and club goers?

One thing I have learned is you can vape inside a nightclub? I didn't think you could!

Precisely. They thought Men B was a big enough risk that they started vaccinating babies from 2015, so it should have been an option for parents to elect to vaccinate DCs born before 2015 either on the NHS because they were high risk, or advised parents of the private option (via Boots etc) if they want to protect their children before sending them to university or the army/navy/airforce and other situations where dorms/communal living is the norm.

It’s a cost versus risk exercise. Babies are the group at greatest risk for Men b then the 15-24 age group. They don’t have enough money to vaccinate all. So went with babies.

But there should have been a campaign to say that these teens were not protected against Men b and they need to get it privately. And also that it only lasts around 2 years. I have seen everywhere today - people with 2015 babies and younger thinking that will be lasting protection. No it won’t.

I noticed the boys from Langton were mostly wearing masks on the way into town today. Is that school advice? The fact the weekend the first contact happened was 10 days ago is what worries me, as we saw with Covid (which I understand is far more communicable) the wait without symptoms is what causes further spreading to occur.

Personally I think they should have campaigns at the freshers week of Uni nationwide, where you can get a vaccine for Men B.

The other thing to bear in mind with sneezing and droplets is hayfever. Spring has certainly sprung here over the last couple of weeks so I can only imagine that could be having an impact too.

Fake ID is very prevalent - I can't believe how good it is.

I think the cross over is the issue with vapes, you share with your friends, but your friends have other friends and share with them- alcohol is involved so inhibition is lowered.

But I'm still not sure what causes the Super Spreader event - why the cases not in one friendship group

Agree!

This thread is so reminiscent of the early COVID threads that it’s giving me the fear (and yes I know it’s not the same).

My DD received a vaccine today via an independent pharmacy in her Uni town. She called to book as soon as it opened after the outbreak was announced. Fully expected it to be cancelled but they kept it for her- the pharmacist said they’d had hundreds of calls and only one dose in stock.

Pre vaccines this used to happen quite often with the other strains. But of course we worry.

Yeah. It just stirs up some very familiar feelings.

I’m already seeing conspiracy crap on Facebook and twitter 🙄

But when it comes to your kids it’s really not funny.

do students still share joints?

Great idea

I thought it was transmitted tghriough snogging, sharing vapes (sex?), and not airborne.