Health Secretary promises more meningitis vaccines as number of cases rise to 27

Health Secretary Wes Streeting has said more people affected by a meningitis outbreak in Kent will get vaccines as the number of cases rose to 27.

Mr Streeting said more would get protection against meningitis B, which has been the strain affecting those who fell ill after visiting Club Chemistry in Canterbury.

He said anyone who attended the club from March 5 until it closed (March 14) would be offered the jab, alongside sixth-formers at four schools and more university students in Canterbury.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said that as of 5pm on Wednesday, 15 cases of meningitis have been confirmed and a further 12 are under investigation.

This takes the total to 27 cases of either confirmed or suspected meningitis, up from 20 on Wednesday. Two students have died in the outbreak.

Currently, nine of the 15 confirmed cases are known to be caused by menB.

On a visit to the University of Kent, Mr Streeting said: “We are now encouraging anyone who attended Club Chemistry from March 5 until it voluntarily closed to come forward for both antibiotics and vaccination.

“Furthermore, we’re expanding vaccination to anyone who’s previously been offered the prophylactic antibiotic.

“That will include a large number of students here at the University of Kent.

“And it will include some students at Canterbury Christchurch University.

“It will also include sixth-formers at four schools where there are known or suspected cases.

“These are proportionate steps to help us contain spread and we’re keeping that situation under review.”

Mr Streeting said the outbreak of meningitis “isn’t like Covid”, adding the risk to the general public is “extremely low”.

He told BBC Newsbeat young people should be cautious about sharing vapes, but added that he is not the “fun police”.

Speaking about how meningitis spreads, Mr Streeting said: “Firstly, it spreads through close personal contact.

“That can include things like kissing, sharing vapes, sharing drinks, living in shared accommodation, which is why we’ve been so proactive in getting antibiotics and vaccines out to students, and now all club-goers who were at Club Chemistry in Canterbury from March 5 onwards.

“But the risk remains extremely low.”

He said that as a “rule of thumb” it is “not hygienic to share things like vapes around your mates”.

Mr Streeting added: “It’s absolutely fine for people to go about living their lives in a normal way and there is no reason for me to be the fun police today and tell students across the country that they shouldn’t be going out this weekend and doing the things that they would normally do in a nightclub.”

It comes as Morrisons confirmed an employee who attended Club Chemistry has contracted meningitis.

A Morrisons spokesperson told the Press Association: “We can confirm that a colleague at our Sittingbourne distribution centre visited Club Chemistry and subsequently contracted meningitis.

“He is currently receiving treatment and we are in close touch with his family.

“We are following all government guidance, the site is operating as normal and we are continuing to monitor the situation closely.”

Elsewhere, a Kent University student said three people with meningitis are members of the cheerleading society there.

Olivia Parkins, 18, who is part of the cheerleading society at the University of Kent, told the Press Association there have been three confirmed cases within the society – all of whom are in hospital.

To date, thousands of doses of antibiotics have been handed out to those who attended Club Chemistry in Canterbury, alongside students living in halls at the Canterbury campus of the University of Kent.

The UKHSA said four schools in Kent have confirmed cases of meningitis, while the London animation and games school Escape Studios said one if its students had contracted meningitis who had links to Kent.

Louise Jones-Roberts, who owns Club Chemistry in Canterbury and has seen two members of staff with meningitis, said she was pleased there would be more jabs.

She told PA: “I’m really pleased, I’m over the moon there are more vaccines.

“I’d like to see it given to all under-25s though. It needs to be looked at right across the country.

“As for reopening the club, there will come a time when it feels OK to open and we will know when the time is right.

“But it’s definitely not going to be this weekend.”

Earlier, Kent County Council’s director of public health Dr Anjan Ghosh told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme it could not be said the outbreak has been contained.

“We’re not in the position yet to say that definitively, that it’s been contained,” he said.

“If you see the daily reporting that’s going on, there are more and more cases being reported, but these cases all relate more or less to that same period of time when the initial exposure happened.

“We are looking at what’s called secondary transmission, so that’s a case that’s then transmitted to another couple of people. We need to rule that out before we can say it’s definitely contained.”

He added: “The main advice is there’s no reason to be anxious.

“This is a disease. It’s not Covid. It doesn’t spread the same way that Covid or measles spread.

“It spreads through close, protracted contact, intimate contact. It’s basically people in households, sharing cups, kissing, intimate contact, those kind of things…

“However, if people have signs of meningitis, then they need to act fast.”

Trish Mannes, UKHSA regional deputy director for the South East, said it is important students still come forward for antibiotics.

“If you have been offered preventative antibiotics, it is strongly recommended that you take them promptly,” she added.

“If you are a student at the University of Kent who is eligible but has since returned home, contact your local GP, who will be able to provide advice and prescribe the appropriate treatment.”

Professor Robin May, chief scientific officer at the UKHSA, said on Thursday “this is a very unusual outbreak”, adding experts were looking at why meningitis in these cases may have become more transmissible between people.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Prof May said: “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.

“What is particularly remarkable about this case, and unexpected about this case, 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.

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

Prof May said the bacteria which can cause meningitis can be transmitted by sharing utensils, cups and vapes.

He said: “This is a bacteria that is actually quite widespread.

“A large number of us carry this, about 10% of people my age, slightly higher in younger people, carry this bacteria at the back of their throat anyway, and obviously, the vast majority of us don’t have any problem with disease, but in some cases it can cause severe disease.

“It is transmitted by this relatively close contact.

“It’s transmitted by things like saliva and kissing in particular, but also sharing of utensils, sharing of cups or vapes or those kind of things.”