Should we be worried about meningitis outbreak?

127 replies

LittleRed34 · 19/03/2026 17:52

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??

OP posts:

LemonFancy · 22/03/2026 13:16

AussieManque · 22/03/2026 13:14

The guidance from the following all state aerosols are a mode for transmission:
UK NICE, UK green book chapter 22 on meningitis, EU Centre for Disease Control.

Until earlier this week, the WHO and NI PHA did too but they conveniently erased mention of aerosols this week.

"Close contact" is not a mode of transmission- the bacteria has to get from one person to another somehow and in this case it could be both aerosols and / or drops of saliva.

In this situation of doubt, best to apply precautionary measures and take airborne mitigations as well. Ventilation, HEPA purifiers, and FFP2 masks that fit snugly.

Ongoing research at Bristol University is also looking at how the bacteria survives on aerosols from human exhalations, here is their July 2025 update:
During the past 12 months, Mia and the team have characterized the aerosol survival of different Neisseria meningitidis strains- serogroups A, B and C – in both artificial and real human saliva. They have found potential mechanisms for what drives death of the aerosolised bacteria in the artificial saliva.

They have identified that real human saliva provides a significant protective effect compared to artificial saliva and prolongs survival, irrespective of relative humidity.

The team have now started to investigate the potential reasons for the protective effect of real saliva. www.meningitisnow.org/meningitis-explained/research/current-research-projects/meningococcal-meningitis-university-of-bristol/

Do you think we should all be wearing FFP2 masks in public while this small outbreak is ongoing, despite us being told that the risk to the general public of catching Men B is currently no higher than at any other time?

AussieManque · 22/03/2026 13:25

LemonFancy · 22/03/2026 13:16

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No. But if you have a child in the affected areas I'd be telling them to swap their surgical for an N95, and to avoid badly ventilated spaces. And if I were attending any healthcare service I'd be wearing an n95 too because that offers protection against pretty much all the commonly circulating viruses, not just menB. The ventilation in GPs and hospitals is appallingly bad.

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