Number of meningitis cases rise to 20 and private vaccine supplies run out
The number of meningitis cases being investigated has surged to 20 after the Kent ‘super-spreader’ outbreak.
Health officials are battling to contain the outbreak of meningitis in Canterbury, Kent, with thousands given preventative antibiotics to prevent the deadly infection that has left two dead.
Already, private supplies of meningitis B vaccines have run out, according to the National Pharmacy Association.
Meanwhile, Boots has now started a queueing system on its vaccination service page and is warning people that demand for menB jab is high. Superdrug has a waiting list for the vaccine due to a ‘national shortage.’
The pharmacy’s bookings page for the vaccine is currently out of service, with a message reading: ‘We’ll be back shortly. Demand for the Meningitis B Vaccination Service is currently high and we’re having a few technical difficulties. We’re trying to get through as soon as we can.’
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The outbreak has been declared a national incident and the number of cases is expected to rise as symptoms take between two and 14 days to develop.
The outbreak is being viewed by experts as unprecedented owing to the high number of cases appearing in such a short space of time.
UKHSA chief executive Susan Hopkins said: ‘This looks like a super-spreader event, with ongoing spread within the halls of residence in the universities.
‘There will have been some parties particularly around this, so there will have been lots of social mixing.
‘I can’t yet say where the initial infection came from, how it’s got into this cohort, and why it’s created such an explosive amount of infections.
‘I can say that in my 35 years working in medicine, in healthcare and hospitals, this is the most cases I’ve seen in a single weekend with this type of infection.
‘It’s the explosive nature that is unprecedented here – the number of cases in such a short space of time.
‘NHS were initially managing it as a major incident in the region but they have now increased that overlay to having a national-level oversight as well.’
GPs across the UK have been told to prescribe antibiotics to anyone who visited Club Chemistry, Canterbury, between March 5-7, the UKHSA said. The cases link back to the nightclub, which held a fresher’s event attended by sixth formers.
Around 5,000 students in the Kent university halls will be offered the meningitis B vaccine over the coming days.
Schools in Kent are also offering the jab after four confirmed cases linked to them.
Pharmacies have said they are in an ‘impossible situation’ as their private stocks for people who want to pay for a Men B vaccine themselves have run out.
Health officials said people should not skip antibiotics if prescribed it as a single tablet of Ciprofloxacin reduces the risk of meningitis in one household by up to 90%.
Six of the confirmed cases have been found to be group B meningococcal disease, the UKHSA said.
One of the individuals who lived in Kent was traced to London, where they went to a hospital, with ‘no community contacts in London,’ the infection watchdog said.
A baby girl is also in the hospital and facing surgery after falling ill with the same strain of meningitis, although her infection is not currently linked to the Kent outbreak.
Olivier Picard, the chairman of the National Pharmacy Associaiton, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme today that pharmacies’ private supply has dwindled.
He said: ‘Unfortunately, that supply has run out, and most of our distributors, wholesalers have no stock.
‘And whilst we’re hearing that there may be some stock in the system, it is taking its time to come into our fridges. There’s no date of resupply.
‘Overnight, between sort of the hours of 11pm and 6am this morning, I have received over 100 appointments through our booking system in my pharmacies for vaccine we simply don’t have no idea when they will be available.’
What are meningitis symptoms?
The illness is caused by infection with a bacterium called Neisseria meningitidis, which inflames the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, and it can develop rapidly.
While it is common among babies, young children, teens and young adults, it can infect anyone of any age, Caroline Hughes, support services manager at Meningitis Research Foundation, told Metro.
Symptoms include fever and chills, fatigue, vomiting, cold hands and feet, aches and pains, rapid breathing and, over time, a purple rash.
‘In the early stages it can be mistaken for a hangover, freshers’ flu or other mild illnesses, but it can become life-threatening within hours,’ Hughes said.
Symptoms can intensify in only a few hours – the bacteria can invade the bloodstream and cause sepsis, a life-threatening response to infection that causes clammy skin, pain and chills.
As a bacterial infection, meningitis can be spread through sneezing, coughing or sharing utensils.
Up to one in every 10 cases of bacterial meningitis is fatal, sometimes in as little as 24 hours after diagnosis.
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