Parents have been reassured there are not currently any cases of a deadly strain of meningitis in Brighton and Hove following the death of two people in Kent.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said this morning the number of cases in Kent has risen to 27, 15 of which are confirmed to be meningitis, and of those, nine caused by meningococcal disease group B (MenB).
This morning, Brighton and Hove City Council’s director of public health Dr Nicola Lang said there are none here.
In a letter sent to families at all the city’s schools and nurseries, she said: “Our public health team is working closely with UKHSA and local partners.
“There are currently no cases of this infection in Brighton and Hove.
“Anyone identified as a close contact will be asked to take a single dose of an antibiotic. Close contacts of cases do not need to stay away from nursery or school and can continue with their usual routine.
“Babies born in 2015 or later should have received the MenB vaccine as part of the routine NHS vaccination programme. If you are unsure whether your child (born in 2015 or later) has had the MenB vaccine, check your child’s ‘Red Book’ or contact your GP practice to book it in.
“Most children born before 2015, who are now over 10 years old, will not have had the MenB vaccine as part of their usual childhood vaccinations.
“The separate meningitis vaccine, given in school in year 9 or 10, protects against MenACWY and does not protect against MenB.”
Thousands of doses of antibiotics have been handed out to those who attended Club Chemistry in Canterbury from March 5-7, alongside students living in halls at the Canterbury campus of the University of Kent.
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.
“There’s no need to panic or get anxious. People just need to go about their ordinary lives the way they have been.
“However, if people have signs of meningitis, then they need to act fast.”
