Meningitis outbreak: Students in university halls in Kent to be offered vaccine
Students in university halls in Kent are to be offered the meningitis B vaccine, Wes Streeting has said, as officials work to stem the spread of infection in an “unprecedented” outbreak.
The Health Secretary said most students would not already be vaccinated against menB, adding that the jabs will begin in the next few days. He told MPs “This is an unprecedented outbreak. It is also a rapidly developing situation.” He said the menB vaccine has been available on the NHS since 2015 as part of routine childhood immunisations, “but clearly most students would not be vaccinated”. He added: “Given the severity of the situation, I can confirm to the House that we will begin a targeted vaccination programme for students living in halls of residence at the University of Kent in Canterbury, which will begin in the coming days.” The programme may also expand further if other groups are deemed to be at risk. Some 15 cases of meningitis have so far been reported to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) in Kent, up from 13 reported previously. The UKHSA, which is investigating the outbreak that left two young people dead, said all the cases had required hospital admission, with four cases confirmed to have meningitis B. The two deaths are included in the 15 total cases. Mr Streeting told the Commons his thoughts were “with the families and friends of those two young people who’ve sadly died”, adding: “I cannot begin to understand what they must be going through.” He said he had asked the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) to “re-examine eligibility for meningitis vaccines” for a wider group of people after it ruled an menB catch-up campaign for older children was not cost effective. He said: “On the question of wider eligibility, we obviously follow the expert independent advice of the JCVI. “In light of this latest outbreak, I will be asking them to re-examine eligibility for meningitis vaccines. “I will do so without prejudicing their decision because we have to follow the clinical advice on this.” The Health Secretary also told MPs he was “confident” that the UKHSA acted as “quickly and comprehensively as possible” in its response to the outbreak of meningitis, after criticism that it was too slow to act and inform the public. Mr Streeting also set out: – All the cases “link back” to the Club Chemistry nightclub over the dates of March 5-7. – The UKHSA was notified about the first case on Friday, March 13, and began tracing contacts and offering antibiotics “as a matter of urgency”. – On Saturday, the UKHSA was in touch with the University of Kent “to ensure they had the necessary support, advice, and guidance, and to establish where the patient was living.” – Also on Saturday, French authorities alerted the UKHSA to a second confirmed case in France in a person who had attended the University of Kent. Both people lived in private accommodation, “and at that stage, there was no apparent link between the two”, Mr Streeting said. – At 7pm on Saturday, hospitals locally reported that a number of “severely unwell young adults” were presenting with symptoms of meningitis. Contact tracing of those people “began immediately” and continued into Sunday morning. – At 10am on Sunday, the UKHSA “stood up a full scale response” and a public health alert was issued at 6pm. Mr Streeting said even before the alert was issued, students and young people, who had been in close contact with suspected cases were being offered antibiotics. “This is precisely what one would expect as a rapid response, and I’m confident UKHSA acted as quickly and as comprehensively as possible,” he said. However, he admitted to MPs there “was some challenge on Sunday identifying the schools concerned and contact was made on Monday morning. “I think we do have to look really hard at whether more could and should have been done to have been in touch with those individual schools on the Sunday.” And he also said the overall UKHSA response would be looked at in detail “because inevitably there are always things that we can learn”. So far, 700 doses of antibiotics have been given out to people who may need them. There are four centres open in Canterbury offering antibiotics, with 11,000 doses available on site, Mr Streeting told MPs. He added: “The onset of illness is often sudden, and early diagnosis and treatment with antibiotics are vital,” he said. “It doesn’t spread very easily. The bacteria is passed to others after a long period of close contact. “For example, living with someone in shared accommodation, through prolonged kissing, or sharing vapes and drinks.” The UKHSA has urged anyone who attended Club Chemistry from March 5-7 or who believes they were in close contact with someone who has meningitis, to get antibiotics. Earlier, the deputy director of the immunisation and vaccine preventable diseases division at the UKHSA, Dr Gayatri Amirthalingam, said the outbreak of meningitis had been “unusual” but she did not believe there was a current risk to anyone outside the Kent region. “We have no evidence of any wider spread,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “So it’s really important to reassure people across the country that there’s no evidence of wider spread at the current time but it’s important, in terms of vaccination, to make sure that your children are fully up to date with the vaccines that are available, and to be alert to the signs and symptoms of meningococcal disease. “Although it can be rare, it can be severe and devastating, and so prompt recognition, early treatment is very important.” She denied there had been a delay in responding to the meningitis outbreak. “I think it’s important to stress that early on, there were only individual cases, and it actually needs further detailed follow up with those cases to work out the links between the different cases,” she said. “And you’d appreciate with these individuals, some of whom are extremely unwell in hospital, it can be difficult to try and ascertain detailed follow-up information. “But that was really – to be fair – done very rapidly over the weekend, to be able to give that information out and identify the links within 24 hours. “On reflection, people in the local teams acted very, very quickly. “I don’t believe there’s been any delay in terms of the public health response.” Meanwhile, the University of Kent has said there will be no in-person assessments or exams for students this week. Those who attended Club Chemistry can collect antibiotics from: the Gate Clinic at Kent and Canterbury Hospital; Westgate Hall on Westgate Hall Road, Canterbury; the Carey Building, Thanet Hub, Margate Northwood Road; and the Senate building at the University of Kent.
Published: by Radio NewsHub