Antibiotics and vaccines offered after meningitis cases confirmed in Dorset

Precautionary antibiotics and vaccinations are being offered to young people after three cases of meningitis were confirmed in Dorset.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said the cases had all received treatment and were recovering well, with close contacts already offered antibiotics as a precaution.

All three cases involved secondary school students, two from Budmouth Academy and the other from Wey Valley Academy, the agency said.

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The UKHSA said the cases have been confirmed as Meningitis B (MenB) and are the same sub-strain type, but a different sub-strain, to the one detected in the recent deadly outbreak in Kent in which two people died.

But Dr Beth Smout, UKHSA deputy director, stressed the Dorset cases were not linked to the Kent outbreak.

She added: ‘Meningococcal disease does not spread easily, and outbreaks like we have seen recently in Kent are rare.

‘These cases are not linked to the Kent outbreak, and it is important to be aware that this outbreak is not on the same scale as we saw in Kent in terms of speed of transmission or severity.’

But due to there currently being no confirmed epidemiological link between two of the cases and the third, the UKHSA said that antibiotics and MenB vaccination will be offered to young people currently in school Years 7 to 13.

The UKHSA is recommending a single dose of antibiotics and a MenB vaccine be offered to:

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• Anyone who is a resident in Weymouth or Portland or Chickerell and is in current school Years 7 to 13 (or equivalent), or anyone not in full time education who would be in one of these year groups; and
• Anyone who attends an educational setting in the Weymouth, Portland or Chickerell area and is in current school years 7 to 13 (or equivalent).

These will be offered in stages starting with Budmouth Academy and Wey Valley schools, as the cases attend these settings. Pupils that attend other schools and other eligible children in Weymouth who do not attend school will be invited after the weekend.

Dr Smout said it was important for teenagers to ensure they take up the MenACWY vaccine routinely offered by the NHS.

She added: ‘It is possible that we will see further cases linked to these latest cases in Weymouth and we understand that there will be concern among students, staff, parents and the local community as we widen our offer of antibiotics and vaccination.

‘I’d like to stress that this is an additional precaution, and that we’re following national guidelines to reduce the risk of the infection spreading. School pupils and staff should attend school as normal if they remain well.’

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In the wake of the Kent outbreak health secretary Wes Streeting said he would be asking the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) to ‘re-examine eligibility for meningitis vaccines’.

Symptoms of meningitis can include fever, headache, vomiting, drowsiness, rapid breathing, shivering, and cold hands and feet. Septicaemia can also cause a rash that does not fade when a glass is rolled over it.