The number of people affected by this disease in the UK has reached 29 and there are no vaccinesMail

The outbreak originated in a nightclub in Canterbury, but authorities fear the traffic of university students could spread infections.

The number of people infected with meningitis in the UK rises to 29 and the vaccine runs out

The outbreak is at a nightclub in Canterbury, but authorities fear traffic from the university population will spread infections.

An outbreak of meningococcal infection in Kent, England, which has already killed two people, reached 29 on Friday, according to the United Kingdom Health Agency (UKHSA).This health component was added a few days before the social and medical response that filled the regional level, with long queues at the vaccination center in Kent, thousands of antibiotics and vaccines administered during the emergency campaign, and, at this time, everything is growing in private pharmacies in other countries, where little waits long and long waits long.supplies.

Officials have refused to confirm that the disease is over.Kent health director Anjan Ghosh said it was too early to tell, both when asked whether the epidemic was already there and whether the event would prompt an urgent review of the country's meningitis B vaccination policy.

This uncertainty is reflected in three situations in which those responsible for project management.The former sees an explosion within Kent;The second, which is what the authorities call the most probable, starts from the idea that some known people have left the area of ​​Canterbury during the incubation period and that small groups of cases have left there in other areas;and the third, which is considered the worst and most unlikely, would open the door to a new route of transmission outside Kent.

For officials, the mobility of university residents moving between residence halls, family homes and other cities while the original core is contained prevents the chain of infections from breaking.

The outbreak has its epicenter at Club Chemistry, a nightclub in Canterbury.A health advisory for monitoring and vaccination is in place for those who went to the premises from 5 to 15 March.

This is why health authorities have ordered an urgent vaccination and antibiotic prophylaxis campaign for groups considered to be at risk due to their exposure during the outbreak: students and staff at the University of Kent, certain contacts from other Canterbury educational establishments and Chemistry Club participants during the identified period.In addition, the UK Health Network has asked family doctors across the rest of the country to organize vaccinations and antibiotics for those in these groups who have returned to their family homes outside Kent.

Queues to get immunized

On the ground, the operation triggered a high-pressure medical service scene.At emergency sites in Canterbury, Ashford and elsewhere, hundreds of young people waited for hours to receive vaccinations and antibiotics.Organizers even closed queues at several points, as the problem was not a lack of vaccine doses at NHS centres, but the number of professionals who could safely administer the required doses.As of this Friday morning, 2,360 vaccines have already been administered and approximately 10,000 antibiotic treatments have been administered.Local health officials said they have thousands of doses of vaccine available and have requested additional batches.

However, the outbreak has caused an increase in demand for the MenB vaccine in private pharmacies across the UK, particularly among teenagers, young adults and student families, leading to a sell-out in many pharmacies, which already have waiting lists.

The root of this collective anxiety is the previous breakdown of Britain's vaccination system.The MenB vaccine was added to the NHS schedule for children in 2015, so most teenagers and university students today, a population at highest risk due to their shared lifestyle and close contact, did not receive it in childhood, unless their families requested it outside the public system.Meanwhile, the UK Retains MenACWY vaccine for teenagers, which protects against other serogroups, not MenB.

"Young, fit and healthy" victims

Pressure to revise the policy intensified after the death of 18-year-old Juliette Kenny, one of two confirmed deaths.In a statement released by the family on Friday, her father, Michael Kenny, described his daughter as a 'healthy, healthy and strong' young woman shortly before she fell ill, adding that "no family should have to go through this pain and tragedy. In another part of the post, he continued that "it could have been avoided" and requested that Juliette's death lead to "sustainable, along with the vaccine groups and the vaccine groups should change regularly with the vaccinebecome." the young.

On the other hand, microbiological research has provided relevant data for control strategies.The UK Health Safety Agency (UKHSA) announced that preliminary genetic analysis of meningococcus during this outbreak showed that the Bexero vaccine given in Kent "should provide protection" against the identified strain.

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