We thought it important to communicate to everyone about the Meningitis B outbreak in Canterbury, Kent. Understandably we have had several calls and emails today from concerned parents.
The outbreak currently appears to be confined to that area of the country and there are currently NO reported cases of Meningitis B elsewhere in the country.
Meningitis B is an extremely rare, but very aggressive form of bacterial meningitis, which can progress rapidly from an apparently benign flu-like illness through to fever, increasing headache, neck stiffness, nausea, drowsiness, intolerance to light, and a characteristic purplish rash, which can appear anywhere on the body.
Treatment with intravenous antibiotics is often effective if the illness is caught in the early stages, but sadly this is not always the case.
Therefore, it is important to protect against this illness by means of the meningitis B vaccination, which was introduced as part of the NHS vaccination schedule in September 2015 for babies. Children born after this point, who have been vaccinated, should therefore be protected.
At Courtfield we have always been concerned that the vaccine was only being offered to babies, as late teenagers/university age students are also, as we have sadly seen, at high risk. Since 2014 we have been writing to all our patients on their 18th birthday to invite them to be protected against Meningitis B before they go to university.
On reviewing our records this morning, fortunately the majority of our patients have taken up the offer of vaccination and are therefore protected.
We are in the process of ordering in more vaccines although this has proved a little difficult as the government has limited the supply that can be ordered privately. Our secretary has been actively contacting all our providers and we are hopeful that we can get a larger batch in stock shortly. I hope you’ll understand that we will need to prioritise first those who are highest risk – i.e. 18-year-olds and those at university who have not been vaccinated.
Please be reassured that there are currently no cases in our local area. Public health teams are undertaking thorough contact tracing in Kent and will directly contact anyone considered at risk.
If you have any questions, please e-mail these to enquiries@courtfieldpp.co.uk and we will respond as soon as possible.
