18/03/2026
๐จ๐จ๐จ Meningitis outbreak - how it affects our patients ๐จ๐จ๐จ
Understandably the news of the ongoing meningitis outbreak in Kent is causing concern for patients / parents of young children / adults.
The spread of meningitis is via close contact, so it is not like flu or COVID which are spread much easier by droplets in the air (ie coughs and sneezes ) or by droplets on contaminated surfaces. The meningitis outbreak seems to be linked to a nightclub (ie where people are in close proximity and were also sharing a v**e ). A case had also been identified in London - this person had been in Kent and then travelled back to London .
Reports suggest that the โstrainโ of Meningitis is Meningitis B.
Meningitis B is part of the routine childhood vaccination program (and has been since 2015), therefore children born from 1st may 2015 onwards are likely to have received a Meningitis B vaccine.
Older children receive a different strain of the meningitis vaccine when they are around 14 years old - this does not cover Meningitis B.
The health authorities in Kent are carrying out a small targeted vaccine program in the area. Currently there is NO CHANGE to the routine NHS vaccinations in the general population - i.e there is no need to get a Meningitis B vaccine at this time - therefore the practice will not be offering the Meningitis B vaccination to anyone that does not fall into the current routine vaccination schedule .
If you do have queries about vaccination status (ie have you/ your child ) had the recommended vaccines, then please contact the surgery (ideally via askMyGp).
We appreciate there may be some individualised queries (ie there are some groups of people such a as those people without a spleen ) who may benefit from vaccinations if not already given - again please contact the surgery if you feel this may apply .
We are aware that some people are choosing to access Meningitis B vaccines privately- this is , of course, a personal choice , but we need to stress that we can only offer vaccines in the practice to those who are eligible on the NHS.
Finally it would be sensible to simply take this opportunity to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of meningitis - thankfully it is rare , but it is worth being aware of the common symptoms . We do acknowledge that these symptoms can occur in other conditions too
The surgery will communicate to patients / parents if there are any changes to the national approach or should there be any local developments.
