Should we be worried about meningitis outbreak?

[LittleRed34]

Should we be worried about the current meningitis outbreak?? I don't know if it's fake news, but I saw somewhere that there would be talks of a lockdown, and jab roll out...COVID 2.0??

That's true, it is a privilege to be able to pay for it. And I could as a result of my mum dying just before we went into the first Covid lockdown. So I don't consider myself 'lucky' or 'fortunate' in this sotuation. Prior to that time, it preyed on my mind after my experience at university of my house mate dying of menB. I wouldn't wish the infection on anyone, nor would I want my 19 year old child to live with a lifetime of regret from not being aware that MenB can look just like the flu or a hangover, and not knowing that my friend needed an ambulamce, rather than being left to 'sleep it off'. Back then we thought only babies and young children were at risk. MenB is a really emotive topic for me, so it's difficult for me to remain objective. However from a professional viewpoint, I stand by my evaluation in that it does not behave like Covid in terms of infectivity or mode of transmission. For these reasons, I'm not concerned about an epidemic or need for lockdowey

It's appalling to hear of the young people who have lost their lives, in Kent now and as mentioned on this thread. I do think it's sickening that it's down to coincidence and circumstance that some people are aware of the disease and therefore took steps to get hold of the vaccine privately while others are unaware. By that I mean absolutely no disrespect to those who died or who have been affected by the death of another person. I feel like there wasn't a campaign about it because it would have led to people calling for the vaccine to have been made freely available like the others and rolled out freely to older young people. They had already decided that wasn't cost effective so nothing was ever said about it. That's not a great feeling for those of us with dc in schools, colleges and unis now.

Dignified response to an unnecessarily unpleasant post. Xxx

It’s Spread by sneezing etc like Covid was! Please stop spreading misinformation

Maybe take responsibility for your own health and that of your children. Private vaccines aren’t hidden from view… they’re listed online and at pharmacies. Proactively LOOK for anything that you want for yourself. Stop expecting everyone to spoon feed you every single piece of information to exist.

Bear in mind that Bexsero comes in two doses separated by ?three months.
Prevention is key

Educate yourself about the different Men strains and what vax might already have been given.

The current outbreak is Men B.
Young people often won’t have had this vax, (£220 privately). Babies get it routinely NOW but not twenty years ago.

Teenagers are vaxed routinely for Men ACWY.

Meningitis B is spread through sneezing & coughing just like any other airborne virus!

You're not stupid at all! Raising awareness about meningitis is half the battle. Many of the symptoms look like relatively benign viruses, flu or a hangover. The rash doesn't develop in the majority of cases, and often is visible once damage is done. When my house mate was ill, it didn't even occur to us that it was meningitis, as we thought only babies or young children were susceptible. We honestly thought Su had a hangover or flu. By the time we realised, she was very, very poorly. And I still feel so guilty about that.

I remember hearing about a few meningitis outbreaks at uni's before covid times. Young adults are the second highest risk group and have been known to be since I was that age over 20 years ago. It's tragic for those affected, but it was also tragic for those affected in previous years. It's being blown up in the media because stirring the fear gets the views.

@BeKhakiReader I didn't say @CreepingCrone was lucky. Of course it's not lucky to have lost a friend at university. And I didn't say the sickening situation was personal to her or somehow her fault - of course not. It just got to me that someone who is clearly knowledgeable as a result of her job would begin the post saying she wasn't worried and then end by explaining that her dc are vaccinated. I wouldn't be worried if mine were vaccinated but they're not. I did try and convey that it is the government who should have made people aware and perhaps taken a different decision about making the vaccine available to older children and I'm genuinely sorry if it came across I was implying someone is lucky for losing a friend because that wasn't my intention.

I understand where you are but please please don’t blame yourself.

Your posts on this are very helpful.
X

Meningitis B is NOT a virus. It's bacterial. The big clue to that fact is that antibiotics are used to treat it.

Agree - we had an outbreak when I was at high school in the 90s, we all quickly had a jab for whatever strain it was and that was that, doubt it even made the news

For goodness sake - you don't know what you don't know. As children progress through childhood is the average person going to wonder whether further vaccinations have now been introduced but not be rolled out to their age group of children? Don't be silly. Public health is a societal issue. Children's health shouldn't depend on their parents having the wherewithal to find out information they have no inkling that they need to find out!

Nail on the head. It's not airborne like covid etc and does require some element of intimacy/sharing of saliva etc. Assuming people aren't going out and about snogging random people, then it won't spread to the general population. Of course, where that does happen, i.e. student clubs, then there's a greater chance of it spreading among those participating. Talk of lockdowns etc is ridiculous. The nearest would be closing of clubs/discos etc, but even that is highly unlikely and probably wouldn't stop the spread as you can't stop "private" parties etc.

Having two teens, I feel frustrated that there has not previously been more publicity about how the meningitis vaccine they've had at secondary doesn't cover all the bases.
DD1 is at university now and loves clubbing. She is nowhere near Kent but not far from London whither it has spread. I have signed her up for the first dose but ideally I would have done that a year ago if I'd known. By the time she's had the second dose, it will probably all be moot. I'm not sure a first dose will be much help.

When things calm down a little, I'll be signing up DD2 so that she's protected and can contribute to herd immunity, I hope.

As per PP, I find the NHS worrying because I can't trust the doctors because they are saying what they've been told to say. Withholding the facts is bad science.

Name changed as outing.
I work in public health. We see cases of invasive meningococcal disease several times a month. Outbreaks on this scale are, mercifully, rare but smaller outbreaks do happen.
The Neisseria meningitis group B bacteria is normally carried on the back of the throat, and so it's spread by coming into contact with the nose and throat secretions of a person who carries the bug. Transmission usually requires close and prolonged contact with the person who has it. For context, when we are contact tracing a case of invasive meningococcal disease, we usually only take action for the household and anyone who has had "kissing contact" with the case - rarely do we look wider and the risk to people who have more casual contact with the case (i.e other kids at school) is low.
Antibiotics are given to close contacts and are very good at clearing the bug from the back of the throat. Because of this, measures such as lockdowns would be if very little public health benefit.
My advice would be to continue practicing good hygiene (hand washing, "catch it, bin it, kill it" for coughs and sneezes, etc) be aware of the signs and symptoms to look out for, and follow any local public health messaging you are given. I know it's easier said than done, but try not to worry too much.

it IS airborne! It spreads through coughing and sneezing, in addition to kissing, sharing drinks and vapes.

But nowhere near as virulent as covid which spread between people who weren't sneezing and coughing, just breathing, as the size of droplets was a lot smaller. Very different quantities required. But yes, if someone with it sneezes in your face, you're probably going to get it just as if you were snogging them, but if someone sneezes at the opposite end of a railway carriage, you're very unlikely to have caught it.

Please watch the following video for some common sense:

(Aimed at students, but hopefully dispels some of the myths).

It’s not airborne. It can be carried in saliva and water droplets when you sneeze or cough but it does not linger in a mist like state. TB is similar. It was against the law to spit in public during the big outbreaks in the first half of the 20th century because it could be passed on in infected sputum.

Most infections were due to prolonged exposure in cramped living conditions and poor hygiene generally. If someone coughs into your face or sneezes up your nose then it’s a problem but in day to day life this is pretty rare. But in overcrowded nightclubs or in halls of residences it is a bigger risk. Infection is likely to be passed mouth to hand to mouth or mouth to mouth.

Imagine living in a flat with 20 people, you all make your way to the kitchen. The first there coughs into their hand before opening the door, transferring the bacteria to the door handle, every one who uses that door handle in the next 40 secs will potentially pick up the bacteria from the door handle. One or two of them put their hand to their mouth and you have transmission. If the whole flat have caught a communal cold and have sore throats it produces the conditions for transmission.

It is no accident that meningitis spreads through communities of young adults who are constantly trading respiratory infections with each other.

Very helpful and reassuring, thank you. I don't remember what strain, but when I was younger my sister had meningitis, she was very unwell and I remember we were all given this horrible yellow medicine. She was blue lighted to Cambridge addenbrooks at the time and she spent 3 weeks in an induced coma, had surgery to drain some icky stuff from her brain (this is just what I remember) was over 20 years ago, I must have only been about 8/9. But it was scary. Anyway, we never caught it. But we did have the preventive antibiotics I assume.

It's actually more common to get it from someone without the actual disease (10-25% of the population just have the bacteria living harmlessly in their noses/throats).

But even after the bacteria is transmitted, it still then has to invade the tissues in your own nose/throat, which isn't common.

Well that’s not was said by the health secretary on BBC news this morning, they said it was spread via kissing, sharing drinks etc and that’s why they weren’t concerned with students from Kent uni travelling home etc.

I understood your meaning. I don't think Indid a very good job of explaining that my sensible work heads thinks this is low risk, but my personal experience just makes me hyper aware of MenB.
And of course we all worry about our teens and uni age kids, it's impossible not to and perfectly understandable to feel frustrated at lack of info and vaccine availability.
What we can all do is raise awareness of the symptoms, I've sent my girls this UKHSA flyer, made them send it to all their friends, and drilled it into them that they should keep an eye on their friends and each other. And that it's better to be annoying and wake a hungover friend to be in the safe side