Reading Confirms 4th Meningitis B Case as Junior School Pupil Recovers
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · May 19
Reading Confirms 4th Meningitis B Case as Junior School Pupil Recovers
5 articles · Updated · BBC.com · May 19
UKHSA said a Westwood Farm Junior School pupil is being treated for meningitis B, the fourth young person in Reading linked to the same wider social network.
Close contacts tied to all four cases have been offered precautionary antibiotics, and the agency said the latest pupil is recovering well.
The cluster follows the death last week of Henley College student Lewis Waters and earlier cases at Reading Blue Coat School and Highdown Secondary School.
UKHSA said the risk to the wider public remains low, the Reading cases are not linked to recent MenB incidents in Kent or Dorset, and information has been sent to affected schools and parents.
England records about 300 to 400 meningococcal disease cases a year; UKHSA urged young people to check vaccinations, noting the MenACWY jab does not protect against MenB.
After a fatal outbreak, why does the UK's vaccine policy leave teenagers exposed to Meningitis B?
The MenB vaccine policy was reviewed two months ago. Why are teens still at risk and what was decided?