An outbreak of meningitis B has occurred in southeast England, with 20 confirmed or suspected cases so far. Here’s what you need to know about symptoms and treatment.
Health officials in the United Kingdom are investigating an outbreak of bacterial meningitis B, which has so far taken the lives of two young people in the university town of Canterbury in southwest England.
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The UK Health Security Agency says it is still waiting to confirm 11 other cases of the disease in the city, taking the total number of confirmed and suspected cases to 20.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting told the BBC that officials are "proactively managing" the spread of the infection, adding the "general risk is low, even if the disease itself is extremely serious."
What is meningitis B?
Meningitis is an infection that inflames the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord, known as the meninges.
"You have an infection leading to inflammation of the membranes that surround your brain. They're called the meninges and that's why it's called meningitis," said Jethro Herberg, a consultant paediatrician in infectious diseases at Imperial College London.
"This can be caused by a whole plethora of different bugs. Some of them are viruses and some of them are bacteria. In this case, we're dealing with bacterial meningitis and these tend to be more serious," he added.
Meningitis B is a bacterial form of meningitis, which tends to be more severe than viral forms. Since 2015, newborns in the UK have been immunised against meningitis B. They receive one dose at eight weeks, another at 12 weeks, and a booster at one year.
Teenagers born after September 2015, however, may not have received the vaccine and currently can only access it privately. The current outbreak may change that approach.
Meningitis can spread through close contact, such as coughing, kissing, or sharing utensils.
What are the symptoms and how serious is the risk?
Associate Professor Simon Clarke, a cellular microbiologist at the University of Reading, said doctors in Canterbury would have been alerted to cases by the symptoms experienced by teenagers.
"If people are, feeling sick, getting a sudden temperature, often with chills, sore neck, and of course, that characteristic rash that famously doesn't vanish when you apply a glass to it, which is what would happen with a normal allergic rash. These are all the tell tale signs of meningococcal disease," he said.
However, Herberg noted that symptoms alone are not enough to determine the exact strain.
"Symptoms alone are not very good for telling us exactly what strain of bug is causing meningitis and that's why it's taking a little time I think, for us to understand exactly which strain has been causing this outbreak and we can only get that result from when we grow the bug in a sample from one of the one of the patients who's got it," he said.
How did the outbreak start?
The UK Health Security Agency has linked the outbreak to a local nightclub in Canterbury, where one staff member is suspected of having meningitis B.
One of the two deaths was a sixth-form pupil from nearby Faversham. At the university, staff have been handing out facemasks and antibiotics. The government has also announced that students will now be offered the meningitis B vaccine.
Controlling the outbreak
Vaccination is a key tool, but does not provide immediate protection.
“The vaccine has to be given in two doses several weeks apart, and then after the second dose, you’ve got to wait another couple of weeks for full protection. The way to control this current outbreak will be with antibiotics,” Clarke explained.
Health officials say a single course of antibiotics is highly effective at preventing infection and controlling the spread in around 90 percent of cases.
There are currently four vaccination centres open in Canterbury, with approximately 11,000 doses available.
