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

Yound people who missed their Meningitis ACWY at school can get it at their GP surgery up to the age of 25.

They won’t have received Meningitis B vaccine in this age group as part of their routine immunisations. You can source it privately.

Please try not to panic. There are many different strains of meningitis and UKHSA will ensure contacts are treated prophylactically in an outbreak.

@Sassylovesbooks Same here. Did you have any residual problems? It's an awful and very scary illness, it comes on so quickly and can be confused with flu and similar.

Here is a link to the Meningitis Now campaign to vaccinate against Men B in the vulnerable teenage group. JCVI decided this was not value for money.

https://www.meningitisnow.org/meningitis-now-stories/campaigns/no-plan-b-for-menb/

There is no confirmation yet of which strain this is. But I think if anyone from the university, or who has socialised in Canterbury at student popular venues, is feeling unwell with any meningitis symptoms or general flu type malaise, they should check in very quickly either at urgent care, out of hours GP or NHS 111, mention the outbreak and they are likely to be given precautionary antibiotics. Most students will have had men ACWY at school, but many still don’t realise they aren’t covered against men B, and unfortunately as a result this is often the strain that spreads readily because there isn’t the level of immunity to prevent it. I’m so desperately sorry for the young people who have lost their lives and who are currently in hospital very unwell. Not everyone has the £200 odd for both men B vaccinations and it seems so wrong to me that it’s become an issue of awareness and wealth.

My eldest is 2005. They had the ACWY in year 9 I think, then I paid for them to have the B vaccine before they went to uni.

I'm a 1981 baby and I've had the vaccine as a teen

You didn't have Men B vaccine.

All English school children are offered the MEN ACWY vaccination, the strains which are the most common here. This jab is given in year 9, age 13-14. So your daughter had the opportunity to get this. Are you sure she didn’t get it?

OP - I think it’s urgent that the housemate gets medical attention. It’s not good that she is very ill and in a house by herself. Hopefully someone has managed to get help to her - if
if they are giving out preventative antibiotics then she most definitely needs to been seen and given antibiotics urgently.

This has served as a reminder for me to get DS vaccinated with Men B before he goes to Uni in a few years. It’s very frustrating that it’s not included as part of the NHS program. Of course you would pay £220 to get this done but not everyone can/will.

https://www.nhs.uk/vaccinations/menacwy-vaccine/

About 80% of confirmed meningitis cases in the UK are MenB.

Same here.

My 1999 child had the ACWY as a catch up in year 11. They had the men C in year 10, then ACWY in 11.

Is the outbreak Men B do we know? I’m guessing so as most Uni age kids won’t have been vaccinated against that just the other strains.

There was an outbreak of meningitis when I was at university. They gave everyone in halls preventative antibiotics. I remember lining up to do it and them turning everyone’s wee orange. It was a scary time and I feel for everyone involved. They did a lot of symptom awareness campaigns and it felt like everyone was hyper vigilant and looked after their friends.

It makes no sense to me that if Men B makes up 82% of the infections that this isn’t the one all teens should be offered for free.

She will have had the Men ACWY one as a teen at school, but for some insane and grossly irresponsible reason our government did not do a Men B catch up program so the first uni kids that will be fully protected will be the ones going to uni 18y or so after 2015 i.e 2032/33.

Most teenagers should be largely protected with ACWY (but the poor Kent kids weren't?) but for full coverage you have to pay for the Men B vaccine privately for anyone born before 2015. My 2004 son is in thrid year and I paid for it before he went, 2007 second child is having it this year before starting uni.

As far as I can see men acwy was only available after 2024, and before this it was just men c ? For mine the vaccine record says men c but not men acwy? Can anyone elaborate? I’m pretty certain my kids (school leaver age and above) weren’t given or offered men acwy at school as teens, and their vaccination record doesn’t show this ?

I appreciate there is a small spike in 18-24 year olds, but it mainly affects babies and young children. Because it is so expensive, they deem it not cost effective. I had the jab to be in West Africa, where it is more common. Because most people can’t afford it, it’s very important to educate uni students what the symptoms are and get help immediately.

"Specialists at the UKHSA have been interviewing the families of those affected to identify close contacts and arrange antibiotics. The specific strain of the disease has not been identified."

Phone 111, say your DD is a close contact.

Surely the poorly housemate has a mobile at the end of her fingers and her own parents who can let the Uni know……

My 2015 DS got the Men B vaccine as a baby. We paid privately for our 2014 DD.

My mother in law died from Men B at the age of 49. Her symptoms were brushed off as flu by the GP. She was dead within 48 hrs of that appointment. Horrendous. Always trust your instincts, antibiotics administered earlier may well have saved her life. My husband panics every time they’re poorly, you just never get over it.

It’s highly recommended for teens, although shockingly not available through the NHS. Please, if you can afford it, vaccinate your kids!

DDs housemate has called her; her mum is on the way to the house

DD called 111 - was told “if she had meningitis she’d know it by now” 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

She isn’t poorly and feels fine; keeping a close eye

I’m 38 and had the vaccine in secondary school op? Did she not get it then? (This was in Ireland not uk so maybe different)

I mean I would be checking that in case she’s really ill..I wouldn’t be making any assumptions.