Large outbreak of group B invasive meningococcal disease in young adults in South East England, March 2026

Eurosurveillance 2026 Open access

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Authors: Jessica I'Anson, Charlotte Anderson, Shona Arora, Ray Borrow, Neil Bray, Helen Campbell, Colin Campbell, Meera A Chand, S. A. Clark, Paul Crook, Obaghe Edeghere, Stephen Glass
+29 more Anjan Ghosh, Natalie Groves, Florence Halford, Kirsty Hewitt, Susan Hopkins, Rachael Hornigold, Reece Jarratt, Merav Kliner, Nefeli Kouppa, S Ladhani, Jay Lucidarme, Shobha Luxmi, Martin CJ Maiden, Eve Matthews, Rachel Mearkle, Charlotte Mirrielees, Jaime Morgan, Samuel E Moses, Rich Myers, Grace Oswald, Steven Riley, David J. Roberts, Charlene Mc Rodrigues, Clare Sawyer, Matthew Strutt, Ed Waller, William Welfare, Trish Mannes, on behalf of the Incident Management Team
DOI: 10.2807/1560-7917.es.2026.31.15.2600288
Cited by: 1
References: 5

Abstract

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.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Bacterial Infections and Vaccines Pneumonia and Respiratory Infections Virology and Viral Diseases

Publication details

Journal / source
Eurosurveillance
Publisher
European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC)
Volume
31
Issue
15
Publication date
16 April 2026
Language
EN