Meningitis B: what are the symptoms, how is it spread and is there a vaccine?
Health officials have confirmed that meningitis B is the strain identified in some of the cases in Kent, in an outbreak that has killed two young people and left 15 others seriously ill,Meningitis is an infection of the protective lining of the brain and spinal cord,It is caused by different bacteria and viruses,Meningitis B, known as MenB, is the most common form of invasive meningococcal disease,It is caused by the Neisseria meningitidis bacteria, also known as the meningococcus.
This bacteria usually lives harmlessly in people’s throats, but can cause life-threatening disease if it gets into the blood or spinal fluid,MenB can progress rapidly,Early symptoms are not always present, but can include a sudden high fever, a stiff neck, severe and worsening headache and a rash that does not fade when pressed with a glass,They can also include aversion to bright lights, vomiting and diarrhoea, seizures, joint and muscle pain, delirium and extreme sleepiness,MenB can be fatal.
The meningococcal bacteria can cause inflammation of the lining of the brain and septicaemia, which can rapidly lead to sepsis.If caught early and treated with antibiotics, most people will make a full recovery.But about one in 10 infected people die, and it can cause long-term complications such as hearing loss, amputation, epilepsy or learning disabilities.This outbreak has led to MenB cases at five schools, as well at the University of Kent.Nationally, the disease is most common in babies under the age of one and in teenagers.
According to the UKHSA, there were 378 cases of invasive meningococcal disease in 2024-25, of which 80% – 313 cases – were MenB.Andrew Lee, a professor of public health at the University of Sheffield, said this reflects the success of innoculation against other strains.He said: “We used to get a lot more cases of meningitis and deaths from it, primarily the A and C strains.In 1999/2000 for example there were 2,600 deaths due to meningococcal disease.” This compares with fewer than 400 deaths in 2024/25.
MenB is spread by prolonged and close contact – typically through coughing, sneezing and kissing,According to Prof Paul Hunter at the Norwich School of Medicine, University of East Anglia, teenagers’ increased risk is often associated with moving away from home and living in crowded conditions,“About 10% of people carry the bacteria at any one time and this is even higher in adolescents,” he said,“When you realise you have a significant problem, getting antibiotics into people is important,You can go from being mildly ill walking around to being dead in less than a day.
”Hunter said that seeing a cluster of cases was not unusual.“We see clusters all the time,” he said.“What’s unusual is the size of this cluster.That’s the scary thing.”If you share a vape you transfer saliva between you.
It is therefore considered a high risk for transmitting bacteria and viruses, alongside sharing toothbrushes or drinks, because vapes come into direct contact with the mouth,One mother of a girl in hospital with the disease said she suspected her daughter had caught it from a vape,Simon Williams, public health researcher and lecturer in the College of Human and Health Sciences at Swansea University, said: “Sharing vapes would be one way in which the meningitis bacteria could be spread,Generally, this disease is spread via respiratory droplets – which could include kissing, or sharing drinks, vapes or also coughing and sneezing, and being in very close contact,”Gayatri Amirthalingam, the deputy director of the immunisation and vaccine preventable diseases at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), told BBC Radio 5 Live that people should not share vapes.
“Sharing anything that goes in your mouth is a potential risk factor for transmitting a mouth-living bacteria.So for definite I would be not recommending vape sharing in general from a hygiene point of view.But also in this context it seems an easy enough thing to stop doing, even if we’re not sure if it was causative in this case.”Treatment for meningitis includes antibiotics, intravenous fluids, oxygen if there are breathing difficulties, and in some cases steroid medication to prevent swelling around the brain.Since 2015, the MenB vaccine has been offered to babies at eight weeks, with a second dose at 12 weeks and booster at one year.
Other routine childhood jabs, including the 6-in-1 and pneumococcal vaccines, can protect against meningitis,The MenACWY vaccine, which covers four other meningococcal groups, is offered to teenagers in school years 9 and 10, and can be given until the age of 25,But teenagers born before 2015 are unvaccinated against MenB,The Joint Committee on Vaccines and Immunisation committee recommends which vaccinations should be given to which people, based on latest research on prevalence, effectiveness of the vaccine and cost effectiveness,Despite MenB accounting for 80% of cases of invasive meningococcal disease, until now, the JCVI has not deemed MenB vaccination to be cost-effective for teenagers because it doesn’t prevent the bacteria from spreading from one person to another, it doesn’t target against all the different B bacteria strains and doesn’t protect for a particularly long time either.
The health secretary announced that he had asked JCVI “to re-examine eligibility for meningitis vaccines”.He said he was doing this “without prejudicing their decision”.Meningitis Now says young people should be vaccinated against meningitis B on the NHS, with the most at risk inoculated first, followed by a booster programme for teenagers from 2030.Private jabs should also be made more affordable, it argues.Private meningitis B vaccinations cost between £100 and £120 a dose in the UK, with a full two-dose course costing about £200-£240.
Boots offers two doses for £220.Some experts believe that catchup jabs could help reduce the risk of further outbreaks.Prof Emma Wall, clinical research group leader at the Francis Crick Institute, and clinical professor of infectious diseases at the Blizard Institute, QMUL, said: “Vaccination can be a very useful tool to reduce onward transmission of this bacteria and reduce the risk of a secondary outbreak in students or related communities.Protection from the vaccine is rapid.”The government announced that university students would be offered the MenB vaccine.
Streeting told MPs: “Given the severity of the situation, I can confirm that we will begin a targeted vaccination programme for students living in halls of residence at the University of Kent in Canterbury, which will begin in the coming days,”The UKHSA says that anyone who becomes unwell with symptoms of meningitis and septicaemia should seek medical help urgently at the closest A&E or by dialling 999,Those who attended Club Chemistry in Canterbury between 5 and 7 March should come forward for antibiotic treatment,
Oil and gas prices rise again after Iran attacks production facilities
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Rachel Reeves reveals push for fiscal devolution to English regions, says Brexit caused damage, and admits student loan system is ‘broken’ – as it happened
Time to wrap up…Rachel Reeves has announced that the Treasury will draw up proposals to hand England’s mayors a share of national tax revenues as part of a radical plan to rebalance the economy.The chancellor promised “a genuine break with the past” that would shift spending power away from Westminster, as she promised to create investment-led growth, across the UK.Reeves was delivering the Mais lecture – the second time she has given the high-profile annual address at Bayes Business School in London.It is no coincidence that the UK is “the most politically centralised of advanced democracies, and one of the most geographically unequal”, Reeves said.Treasury officials will bring forward a plan at the autumn budget to allow regional leaders to receive a share of national taxes, starting with income tax, she added
UK must learn lessons from AI race and retain its quantum computing talent, says minister
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Child abuse material ‘systemic’ on Elon Musk’s X amid Grok scandal, Australian online safety regulator warned
The Australian online safety regulator warned Elon Musk’s X amid the Grok sexualised image generation scandal that it found child abuse material was “particularly systemic” on X and more accessible than on “any other mainstream service”, correspondence obtained by Guardian Australia reveals.The eSafety commissioner wrote to X in January after its chatbot, Grok, was used to generate sexualised images of women and children online, which the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, described as “abhorrent”.In the letter, obtained by Guardian Australia under freedom of information laws, eSafety’s general manager of regulatory operations, Heidi Snell, pointed to Musk’s promise when taking over the platform in 2022 that “removing child exploitation is priority #1”, but said “the availability of CSEM [child sexual exploitation material] continues to appear particularly systemic on X”.“eSafety has not identified CSEM to be as readily accessible on any other mainstream service,” Snell said.eSafety had found that while action by X to tackle bot accounts in October 2025 had reduced use of some previously commonly used hashtags and terms to advertise CSEM, eSafety found hashtags to advertise the material still prevalent
Sabalenka may avoid championships in Dubai after ‘ridiculous’ comment
Aryna Sabalenka says she may never return to compete at the Dubai Tennis Championships after she and Iga Swiatek were harshly criticised by the tournament director for their withdrawals from the tournament last month.“I think it’s ridiculous,” Sabalenka said during her pre-tournament press conference at the Miami Open. “I don’t think he showed himself in the best way possible. For me it’s actually so sad to see that the tournament directors and the tournaments are not protecting us as a player. They just care about their sellings, about their tournament and that’s it
Sale warn England ‘superhuman’ Tom Curry needs time off to prolong career
Alex Sanderson has warned that Tom Curry’s physical playing style will shorten his career and has suggested England should give him the summer off with the World Cup next year in mind.The back-rower sustained a calf injury in the warmup for England’s Six Nations defeat by Italy in Rome. Sanderson, the Sale director of rugby, said on Tuesday that Curry has a grade-three calf tear and “he’ll be back this season” – but when remains unclear. “With Tom being superhuman the usual layoff times tend to be diminished because of his character and physique,” Sanderson said.The 27-year-old Curry had surgery on a persistent wrist injury after the British & Irish Lions tour last summer, sidelining him until November, and also has a chronic hip condition
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