Bath student dies of rare strain of meningitis as Public Health England works to prevent spread

The student is believed to have died from a rare strain of Meningitis called group B meningococcal meningitis
PA
Bronwen Weatherby13 November 2019

Officials in the UK have urged people "not to panic" as they work to prevent the further spread of a Meningitis strain which killed a student.

The death of the final-year Bath Spa University student was confirmed yesterday by Public Health England.

The business and management student, who has not yet been named, had been admitted to hospital over the weekend and died suddenly.

The health agency said it is now trying to "prevent the further spread of this infection".

Bath Spa, the Bath and North East Somerset Council and its NHS partners are working with PHE to identify close contacts of the students who may have come into contact with the infection.

The student is believed to have died from a rare strain of Meningitis called group B meningococcal meningitis which young people are usually not vaccinated against.

Meningitis Research Foundation and Meningitis Now are aware of the death and are working to establish if anyone else is affected.

Doctor Tom Nutt, chief executive at Meningitis Now, urged people at the university "not to panic".

"It is very sad to hear of another young life being lost to meningitis," said Dr Nutt.

"We understand that people connected with the university will be concerned but we urge them not to panic – Meningitis remains a relatively rare disease and everything that needs doing is being done.

"Although this strain has been identified as MenB, which young people are not routinely vaccinated against, we would still urge students to take a few minutes to check that they and their friends have been vaccinated for MenACWY and learn the signs and symptoms of the disease, so they can act quickly if they suspect it."

Students are being asked to check if they have had the MenACWY vaccine and to carry out checks for signs of Meningitis.

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