Meningitis cases FALL for first time with infections dropping to 29 after two killed in Kent outbreak

Today health chiefs confirmed the number of cases linked to the outbreak, which left a baby girl critically ill, has fallen to 29.

It comes as…

The decrease comes after some “confirmed” cases were downgraded following further tests, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said.

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As of 12.30pm on March 21, the number of confirmed cases was 20 and nine suspected cases remain under investigation, bringing the total to 29.

The UKHSA said: “Some cases initially classified as confirmed cases have been reclassified following further laboratory results and clinical investigation.

“As further laboratory assessments are completing, we expect some further probable cases to be downgraded in the coming days.”

Cases have been confirmed at two universities, four schools in Kent, as well as one institution in London.

Experts fear students carrying the disease could spread it across the country as thousands head home from Uni for Easter.

It is believed the outbreak was sparked by a “super spreader” event at the now closed Club Chemistry in Canterbury.

Dr Eliza Gil, a clinical lecturer at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine told The Guardian she suspected the outbreak was triggered by a superspreader at the club who shed a lot of the MenB bacteria. 

Some 4,500 vaccinations have been administered in the wake of the outbreak, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) confirmed.

Scientists believe the vaccine will be effective against the strain of Meningitis B seen in the county.

The UKHSA is looking into whether the strain in circulation is more easily spread or likely to cause severe illness.

Health officials are desperate to contain the devastating surge, which has been declared a national incident.

Some experts fear that revellers sharing vapes at Club Chemistry in Canterbury could be behind the “unprecedented” number of cases seen.

We exclusively told how one student was left blind and unable to walk after contracting the bug while celebrating her 21st at Club Chemistry.

Annabelle Mackay’s housemates saved her life after rushing her to hospital when she collapsed in Canterbury.

Prof Robert Dingwall, from Nottingham Trent University, told Sun Health: “There have been outbreaks of meningitis long before there were vapes.

“But it is possible that there’s a new factor with vaping, passing it around and people picking up each other’s saliva.

“Vapes are new and they get passed around perhaps in a way that cigarettes weren’t.

“And smoke irritates the throat and the lungs which could upset their immune response.

“So other people’s saliva triggers a reaction that would not have been triggered in the days before vapes.”

The UKHSA previously issued an alert for the NHS across England on signs and symptoms of meningitis to look out for.

It urged doctors to have a “high index of suspicion where a young person aged 16 to 30 attends with consistent signs or symptoms” of the bug.

Last weekend, French authorities alerted the UKHSA to a confirmed case of meningitis in France, with the person now in a “stable” condition.

And European health chiefs have also urged doctors across the continent to be vigilant for meningitis cases and mask up, where necessary.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said it is ‘monitoring the situation through event-based surveillance’.

In the UK most people above primary school age are unprotected against MenB because routine jabs for babies were only introduced in 2015.

Instead, the MenB jab is available privately at high street and supermarket pharmacies for roughly £150 per dose.