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

I can't remember how they did it but my Jan 2015 baby missed out. There was some kind of cut off and she was one of the ones that missed out.

Yes that's absolutely right and the UK was the first country to introduce it.

Sorry, but with the measles outbreak, some parents don't get their children vaccinated and so herd immunity is reduced and compromised.

All vaccines solidify herd immunity and protect the vulnerable. It does require more than 95%.

My son had Bexsero for Men B when he was seven (now 16) but currently their website recommends a booster only in high risk individuals who might have immunity problems.

I have only read the first two pages of the thread. Do we know which strain of Men it is? They weren't sure on the 10pm BBC news.

We researched the jabs before my son went to uni and were discouraged from getting Men B by our surgery, and he had already had Men ACWY.

I don’t recall being told that a Booster was required after five years and there is nothing on either the boots or the Superdrug website about that. It was two doses which were about £100 each and a few weeks apart.

Why on earth did they discourage you?

And next week they’ll all be starting to travel home for the Easter holidays and planning to meet up with friends who are studying all over the country. It’s very worrying indeed.

A GP or staff ar a GP surgery discouraged you from a vaccine? What was their reasoning? That is highly dubious behaviour

A boy I went to school with died age 17 when there was the outbreak in 2000 (we all got vaccinated that year). It was quick, he went to bed feeling unwell and his mum found him in the morning. He had died overnight.

It was a nurse @The2ndMrsMaximDeWinter and I guess the reason @FeyreArcheron is because the NHS only recommends Men B for children as that's when it's most common. There is nothing at all on the NHS website about Men B and students, from what I can see.

Various other places take the same line. See Oxford Uni.
https://vaccineknowledge.ox.ac.uk/menb-vaccine#Who-should-get-this-vaccine

Let hope the other eleven who are seriously ill in hospital pull through and that no more are infected

The nurse should know more about meningitis though. That’s appalling.

the practice should be alerted that she’s giving incorrect information. Just to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

It's the way the NHS operate - the risk once children have had the 2 jabs as infants is low so they don't recommend a booster. However, that isn't the same as remaining immune for a lifetime. Immunity definitely does wane but the risk is considered to be so low that people are told a booster is unnecessary.

You assumed it was a woman.

He was going by the NHS guidelines. He didn't have the right to say anything else.

It's also important to remember that as yet we don't know what strain has caused this terrible news today. Unless I've missed something.

Essentially being told a booster is not required is not the same as being told that immunity from Men B lasts a lifetime

Just to pile on with my experience…. I have had meningitis and can totally agree with it comes on quickly and believe me you know when you have it.

Light aversion absolutely but the worst headache or my life which I described as someone pouring tar into my hair. Neck ache that was so painful and vomiting because of movement and the headache.

It doesn’t come up gradually. But I will say I didn’t have the rash so I get annoyed when people say look out for the rash . I was tested and in hospital so know I had it.

All I would say is please don’t scare monger or worry if not ill. It’s pretty immediate so if the OPs daughter doesn’t have it by now she probably won’t get it. Being ‘poorly’ isn’t meningitis.

I think with Bexsero they weren't sure how long the immunity would last and with COVID it's been harder to run studies because the teens weren't mingling for a while.

No but since all kids are vaccinated against acwy it’s highly unlikely to be anything other than B given the numbers affected. It would be too much of a coincidence for them all to have anti vaccination parents.

These two deaths are tragic and the outbreak is terrifying. But meningitis isn't always fatal. A 19 year old friend of mine had it recently, the hospital took it very seriously but never thought her life was in danger. She felt terribly ill and was in hospital for four days on a drip, then sent home to convalesce. She made a complete recovery and was fine two weeks later. Fingers that all the other young people who have been exposed to the illness are caught in time and recover well.

Well they may not know yet - it's still being assessed.

And from a cursory glance at results for Bexsero vaccine, 2-3 year olds have a very good immune response and older children less so until teens/adulthood when it improves again.

An NHS staff member isn't going to give advice against what the advice is of the NHS.

Not everyone who misses a vaccination for their child does it because they're anti Vax
I remember my son's friend at school not getting some vaccine because his mum forgot to give permission. It then depends on the family following this up.

Did she not have the booster before going to uni? How worrying.

It's not a booster if they didn't have it in the first place. When I was researching Men B Vax before my eldest went to uni I asked around all my parent friends and couldn't find any families who did it privately. This was only a year ago.

Surely it isn't on the NHS website as they don't offer it to teens, they wouldn't say "we think you should buy..." They just talk about what they do offer

The reason it isn't offered as it is rare and isn't seen to be cost effective.

Experts still recommend it. Meningitis Now run a campaign for it to be given to teens (or they did)