health
Fear of serious forms of meningococcal disease
The number of meningitis cases in Great Britain has risen to 34, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) announced. Among those affected are two students from Kent county – a twenty-one-year-old student and a sixth-grade student from Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School in Faversham, who died last weekend, Sky News reported. According to UKHSA data, the latest information confirms 23 laboratory cases of meningitis, while another 11 reports are under investigation.
TL;DR
- The UK has reported 34 cases of meningitis, with two student deaths in Kent.
- Health authorities in the UK have administered approximately 4,500 vaccines and over 10,500 doses of antibiotics.
- The risk to the wider population in the UK is currently considered low.
- Meningococcal disease is caused by the bacteria Neisseria meningitidis and can manifest as meningitis or sepsis.
- High-risk groups include young children, adolescents, young adults in close quarters, and individuals with weakened immune systems.
- Symptoms include high fever, headache, stiff neck, nausea, vomiting, and in severe cases, a rash and impaired consciousness.
- In Belgrade in 2025, four cases of invasive meningococcal disease were recorded, resulting in one fatality in a nine-year-old child.
- Vaccination against meningococcal disease in Serbia is state-funded for individuals at particular risk.
- Treatment involves penicillin, with high doses required for meningitis due to poor penetration of the blood-brain barrier.