UK races to contain meningitis outbreak

已複製連結

Britain will roll out meningitis vaccines to students at a university in southeast England after an "unprecedented" outbreak of the disease killed two people while the number of new cases jumped to 20.

The UK Health Security Agency said all those affected were young people. A 21-year-old student at the University of Kent and a teenage student at a school in the town of Faversham have died.

Six of the nine confirmed cases are group B (MenB), the
agency added. It is also aware of a baby with a confirmed MenB infection who is not currently linked to the outbreak.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting described the outbreak as "unprecedented in its spread."

Britain has offered a MenB vaccine to infants since 2015, meaning most current university students are unlikely to have received it.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said the risk of invasive meningococcal disease to the general population in the European Union and European Economic Area is "very low".