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Scientists Uncover Why Kent Meningitis Outbreak Was So Severe
Confirmed
In Short: Scientists have uncovered why the meningitis B outbreak in Kent, UK, was so severe, revealing that bacteria in a nightclub created a new, dangerous strain.
The outbreak, which began at Club Chemistry in Canterbury, infected more than 20 young people, mostly students, in March.
Experts say the bacteria underwent a process called horizontal gene transfer, which allowed it to spread rapidly and cause severe illness.
Speaking to the BBC, a scientist explained, 'The fact this outbreak variant was able to spread to so many young people was due to the social environment, a place where lots of close social mixing takes place.
The speed and severity of the outbreak were unusual, with the bacteria potentially bypassing the immune systems of those who had not encountered it before.
Following the outbreak, a one-off meningitis B vaccination programme was launched to protect young people heading to university this autumn.
The current vaccine offered to over a million young people starting university protects against the new strain.
This discovery underscores the importance of vaccination and the need for rapid response to emerging pathogens.
While the outbreak was severe, the vaccine offers protection, highlighting the effectiveness of public health measures in mitigating the spread of such diseases.
What's confirmed
- The outbreak, which began at Club Chemistry in Canterbury, infected more than 20 young people, mostly students, in March.
- Experts say the bacteria underwent a process called horizontal gene transfer, which allowed it to spread rapidly and cause severe illness.
- Speaking to the BBC, a scientist explained, 'The fact this outbreak variant was able to spread to so many young people was due to the social environment, a place where lots of close social mixing takes place.
- The speed and severity of the outbreak were unusual, with the bacteria potentially bypassing the immune systems of those who had not encountered it before.
- Following the outbreak, a one-off meningitis B vaccination programme was launched to protect young people heading to university this autumn.
- The current vaccine offered to over a million young people starting university protects against the new strain.
- This discovery underscores the importance of vaccination and the need for rapid response to emerging pathogens.
- While the outbreak was severe, the vaccine offers protection, highlighting the effectiveness of public health measures in mitigating the spread of such diseases.
What's still developing
- Scientists say they have discovered why the bacteria responsible for the UK's worst outbreak of meningitis B in Kent earlier this year proved so dangerous.
- Such changes can make infections more severe, and may mean they get past the immune system because people haven't encountered them before.
- Scientists previously treated these cats as a single species, Leopardus tigrinus, commonly known as the oncilla, though genetic studies over recent decades had increasingly suggested that several separate species were hiding under that classification.
- A remarkably preserved fossil from northeastern Spain is giving scientists a rare look at the skin, soft tissues, and possible coloration of an ancient crocodile relative that lived about 125 million years ago.
- The new study, published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, provides the first detailed description of soft tissues preserved in Montsecosuchus depereti, a Lower Cretaceous crocodylomorph discovered at the Pedrera de Meià site in the province of Lleida (Catalonia, Spain).
- It was discovered more than a century ago and received some scientific attention in the 90s, but researchers have now extracted information that had remained hidden since its discovery, including the shape and distribution of its preserved soft tissues.
- The discovery suggests that sophisticated thoracic anatomy had evolved surprisingly early in crocodylomorph history.
- Scientists at NHSBT discovered he was a rare mix, including r’r’, a subtype of the Rhesus system that is shared by roughly one in 10,000 people.
- In 1989, Voyager 2 discovered six previously unknown moons around Neptune.
- Now, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope ( JWST ) has given scientists a much closer look.
- A new "tiger cat" species has been discovered in Bolivia, according to researchers in Current Biology, the first living feline species identified by scientists in over a century.
- Scientists believe the tilcayo cat likely evolved from a common ancestor of "tiger cats" around 1.4 million years ago.