PM Starmer leads efforts to halt deadly meningitis spread in UK as cases rise
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One of the victims who died amid the outbreak was a 21-year-old undergraduate from the University of Kent.
PHOTO: SCREENGRAB FROM GOOGLE MAPS
London - British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on March 18 led urgent calls for young people who visited a nightclub at the centre of a deadly meningitis outbreak to come forward, as the number of cases rose.
He told Parliament the outbreak centred on Canterbury, in southeastern England, had left two dead and others were seriously ill in hospital.
Health experts were working to identify the close contacts of those who had contracted the life-threatening condition, Mr Starmer said.
He asked “anyone who attended Club Chemistry on March, 5, 6th or 7th to come forward, please, to receive antibiotics”.
All the cases linked back to that nightclub in the university city, Health Minister Wes Streeting said earlier.
One of the cases involved a patient who had been living in Kent, but who was taken ill in London, amid fears the disease could spread as students head home for their Easter vacation.
Meningitis is a potentially deadly infection affecting the protective membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord, and is most common in young children, teenagers and young adults.
“As of 5pm on 17 March, nine laboratory cases are confirmed and 11 notifications remain under investigation,” bringing the total to 20, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said in a statement.
Students at the university have been queueing this week for preventative antibiotics with four centres open in Canterbury.
A targeted meningitis B vaccination programme was also due to begin, the authorities said on March 18, with the jab initially being offered to 5,000 University of Kent students living on campus in Canterbury.
The programme could be extended, the UKHSA added.
Meningitis, which can progress rapidly, is spread through prolonged close contact, including kissing or the sharing of vapes or drinks.
Initial symptoms such as headache, fever, drowsiness and a stiff neck can be vague, however, hampering prompt diagnosis.
Six of the confirmed cases are of group B meningococcal disease, the UKHSA said.
The bacterial strain is rarer and deadlier than the viral type.
Family doctors nationwide have been told to prescribe antibiotics to anyone attending their surgeries who visited Club Chemistry between March 5 to 7 and to University of Kent students “if they have been asked to seek preventative treatment”.
“This is so that anyone who has travelled home, or away from Kent, can easily access this important preventative treatment close to them,” the UKHSA said.
The agency said it was also investigating the case of a baby with confirmed Meningococcal group B infection who was apparently not linked to the outbreak.
The baby girl is reportedly in hospital in nearby Folkestone.
Children in Britain are routinely vaccinated against meningitis B with three doses given at eight and 12 weeks and one year.
Another vaccination targeting meningococcal groups A,C,W and Y is offered to children aged 14.
“Around 2,500 doses of antibiotics have now been administered across sites in Kent and we continue to encourage close contacts to come forward for the treatment. This includes those offered at the University of Kent and anyone who visited Club Chemistry between March 5 to 7,” said UKHSA regional deputy director for the south-east Trish Mannes.
“This is the main intervention that will help protect people and halt the spread of the outbreak,” she added. AFP
