Large outbreak of group B invasive meningococcal disease in young adults in South East England, March 2026
An unusually large outbreak of invasive meningococcal disease affecting young adults occurred in South East England between 13 and 18 March 2026, with 21 confirmed cases including two fatalities. Thirteen cases were university students and 19 had attended the same nightclub over a 3-day period. The outbreak strain was a distinct genome within the previously seen type B: P1.12–1,16–183: F1–5: ST-485 (cc41/44). Over 13,000 chemoprophylaxis doses and 11,000 meningococcal B vaccinations were provided to possible contacts.
Authors
- Anjan Ghosh
- Rich Myers
- S. A. Clark (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4916-3623)
- Clare Sawyer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2679-7217)
- Rachael Hornigold
- Susan Hopkins (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5179-5702)
- Rachel Mearkle
- Merav Kliner
- Florence Halford (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8867-3602)
- Matthew Strutt
- Ray Borrow (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0691-6568)
- William Welfare (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8304-1048)
- Charlene Mc Rodrigues
- S Ladhani
- Obaghe Edeghere (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4275-6338)
- Natalie Groves (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3832-3484)
- Meera Chand (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9697-0340)
- Neil Bray
- Colin Campbell (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6239-3378)
- Jay Lucidarme (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5553-2512)
- Samuel Moses (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6576-0439)
- Paul Crook (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0252-0769)
- Jaime Morgan
- Shobha Luxmi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0117-3048)
- Steven Riley (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7904-4804)
- Reece Jarratt
- Grace Oswald (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-4541-1543)
- David Roberts (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5955-0574)
- Kirsty Hewitt
- Ed Waller
- Jessica I'Anson
- Nefeli Kouppa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-8827-3085)
- Martin CJ Maiden
- Helen Campbell (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9840-8917)
- Trish Mannes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-4038-8693)
- Charlotte Mirrielees
- on behalf of the Incident Management Team
- Charlotte Anderson
- Shona Arora
- Stephen Glass
- Eve Matthews (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-9862-9952)
Institutions
- Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust (GB)
- St George's, University of London (GB)
- Kent County Council (GB)
- Lackland Independent School District (US)
- East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust (GB)
- University of Oxford (GB)
- London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (GB)
- Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Eurosurveillance
- Published
- 2026-04-16
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.es.2026.31.15.2600288
- Primary Topic
- Bacterial Infections and Vaccines
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00