An outbreak of meningitis recently in Kent raised panic among residents and prompted widespread media coverage. Real students at universities all over the UK are now more vulnerable than ever. Meningitis is a deadly disease that can turn people fatally ill within just hours. Though uncommon, teens and young adults—particularly those on college campuses—are at greater risk. The outbreak, which started at a Canterbury nightclub, has led to 20 cases and two deaths.
The strain of meningitis responsible for this particularly deadly outbreak has been circulating in the UK for half a decade. So far, it had not caused such a catastrophic event. As public health officials have been calling attention to, university students are 11 times more likely to get meningitis than non-student peers. Their continuation to have high-frequency social contact or movements to different states or regions puts them at great risk. These activities increase their risk of exposure to multiple strains of meningococcal bacteria.
Everyone impacted by the Kent outbreak needed hospital care, with nine patients ending up in intensive care units. The disease is spreading extremely fast, amplifying its ability to be lethal. This alarming reality highlights the critical importance for young adults to spread the word and act to prevent it.
As scary as this outbreak is, meningitis is still a rare disease. As Dr. Eliza Gil pointed out, the public shouldn’t be more worried about the risk of contracting MenB disease than they were two weeks or two months ago. She noted that this condition is still very rare, despite the havoc it can wreak.
Now health officials are assessing the size and scope of the outbreak. So, they are trying to see whether young adults are at a higher risk than we knew before. In the United States, there’s a 40-50% chance that we could be observing more cases or even a cluster. The risk of regional outbreaks remains minimal, below 5%. Researchers are measuring vaccine-induced antibody levels in healthy young adults ages 15 to 22. Their goal is to determine whether or not this population is at greater risk for developing meningitis.
In 2015, the UK introduced a new vaccine for meningitis B (MenB). It is especially focused on infants and toddlers that are deemed the most at-risk. As a result, the vaccine remains inaccessible for most teenagers and young adults. Cost-benefit analyses have proven that the cost exceeds the number of lives it would save. Here’s why experts are criticizing this decision in light of the ongoing outbreak. Their goal is to find out whether today’s vaccination strategies are successfully protecting this high-risk group.
Dr. Gil noted the need for clarity regarding the Kent outbreak, stating, “All the individual circumstances don’t seem particularly exceptional, which is why there will be a rush to understand this particular bacteria and whether there’s something new about the type that has been found in this outbreak.”
