UK meningitis cases expected to rise after ‘unusual outbreak’ that has already killed two

THE NUMBER OF cases of meningitis linked to the Kent outbreak is likely to rise, a health leader has said, as experts look at whether the bacteria has become able to transmit more easily.

It comes after one school pupil and one university student died and 18 more cases were being investigated by authorities, with some young people placed in induced comas.

Professor Robin May, chief scientific officer at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said it has been a “very unusual outbreak” so far.

Five new cases of meningitis were announced by the UKHSA yesterday, taking the total number being investigated by health officials to 20.

New figures will be released this morning which are expected to push this figure higher.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, May said: “I would say in outbreaks like this, you would typically expect a small increase in numbers still to go so I suspect that number will go up slightly.”

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He described the outbreak, linked to a nightclub in Canterbury, as unusual, adding: “So typically, you would expect to see sporadic cases of meningitis, typically individual patients.

“Most days, actually, we would see one in the UK. This is obviously a much larger number.”

May added that was is “particularly remarkable” about this outbreak is the “large number of cases all originating from what seems to be a single event”.

“There are two possible reasons for that. One is that there might be something about the kind of behaviours that individual people are doing,” May said.

“The other possibility is the bacteria itself may have evolved to be better at transmitting.”

It can also be transmitted by relatively close contact, including “saliva and kissing in particular, but also sharing of utensils, sharing of cups or vapes”, May said.

Although the disease is in the throat, it is not “like Covid or flu”, the professor explained.

“It’s not a respiratory disease in the sense of spreading very easily through the air,” May said.

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“It does not survive very long on surfaces. So people do not need to be concerned about things like public transport, for instance, where you know potentially you might come into contact with somebody with that in your train carriage or your bus.

“But unless you’re in quite close contact for an extended period of time with them, you are not at risk from them.”

To date, 600 meningitis B vaccines have been administered at the University of Kent Canterbury campus after hundreds of students joined a queue outside the campus sports centre.

Those who have received the jab will need to return for their second dose after a minimum of four weeks, while 6,500 antibiotics have also been given out as a precaution, the university said.

In total, around 5,000 university campus students are eligible for a jab and are being urged to come forward for the immediate protection offered by antibiotics and longer-term protection from the vaccine.