UKHSA says strain involved in outbreak that has killed two people is one that most people are not vaccinated against
Government scientists have identified the type of meningitis behind a fatal outbreak in Kent as a strain that most people have not be vaccinated against.
Gayatri Amirthalingam, the deputy director of the immunisation and vaccine preventable diseases at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), said tests showed it was strain B of the virus.
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, she said: “We able to say this morning that we have now identified from some of the testing that it seems to be the group B meningococcal strain that is causing outbreak in Kent.”
Amirthalingam confirmed this was a strain that most people are not vaccinated against. She said: “We have a meningococcal vaccine covering four different strains in teenagers. Usually it is given at the age of 13 or 14 years of age. It covers four main groups A, C, W and Y.”
