LONDON, May 14 (Reuters) – A student in southern England has died after contracting suspected meningitis, health authorities said on Thursday, adding that two other young people were being treated following related cases.
The UK Health Security Agency said three cases had been identified among young people linked to a college, with one confirmed as meningitis B. It added that further test results were pending.
Officials said they were working with health and education partners and had offered precautionary antibiotics to people who had close contact with the cases.
A local general practitioner’s office said the death involved a student at Henley College, adding that those considered at risk were being contacted directly by the health agency.
“If you have not been contacted … you do not require any treatment,” the GP’s office said, adding there were no plans for an emergency vaccination programme.
UKHSA said meningococcal disease spreads through close contact and that the risk to the wider public remained low.
The agency said students and parents had been given information about symptoms, which can include fever, headache, vomiting and a rash, and urged people to seek urgent medical help if concerned.
Meningitis is rare but serious, with around 300 to 400 cases diagnosed each year in England, mostly among babies, young children and young adults.
The cases follow a meningitis outbreak in Kent in March that killed two people and drove a surge in demand for vaccines.
(Reporting by Sam Tabahriti in London; Additional reporting by Chandni Shah in Bengaluru; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
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