If the disease spreads Leicester is ‘at risk more than any other city for lots of different reasons’
New figures reveal less than half of young people in the area are vaccinated against a strain of the disease(Image: Local Democracy Reporting Service)
Concerns Leicester is at risk of a meningitis outbreak “more than any other city” have been raised as new figures reveal less than half of young people in the area are vaccinated against a strain of the disease.
Discussions around meningitis took centre stage at Leicester City Council’s Public Health and Health Integration Scrutiny Commission meeting on Tuesday, March 24.
Rob Howard, director of public health at the council, assured members the outbreak of meningitis B among students in Kent has been “properly isolated” and will likely “disappear”.
However, after hearing new figures around vaccination uptake across Leicester, councillors raised concerns that if a different strain of the disease did spread, the city is at particular risk of outbreak.
Most young people across the country are not vaccinated against meningitis B, as rollout to babies only started in 2015. For this vaccine, Leicester is only one per cent behind the national average, at around 90 per cent.
However, the MenACWY vaccine, which targets a different strain of the disease, has been offered to 13 to 14-year-olds since 2015 too.
The most recent data for Leicester shows that only 49.8 per cent of young people took this up last year, compared with a national average of 73 per cent.
This is a figure which Mr Howard called “really concerning” but said is “not untypical” for “poor cities”.
Cllr Zuffar Haq, of Evington ward (Lib Dem). Image via Leicester City Council. (Image: Leicester City Council)
Councillor Zuffar Haq, of Evington ward (Lib Dem), felt this left the city vulnerable to another outbreak should this strain of the disease travel to Leicester.
He said: “We seriously do have a problem.
“If it ever happens we are at risk more than any other city for lots of different reasons.”
Officers said no extra cash has yet been made available to the council in light of the Kent outbreak.
Cllr Haq proposed the committee write to the Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, asking him to fund better immunisation coverage. This motion was seconded by Green councillor Liz Sahu, from Castle ward.
In order to tackle the poor vaccine uptake, Mr Howard outlined plans to make it easier for parents to consent to vaccinations for their children.
He said while some parents are genuinely hesitant around vaccines, many don’t sign the form because of problems with literacy, language, or digital access.
He hopes the new scheme will “make a difference” to the MenACWY uptake.
The council also plans to circulate information about detecting meningitis symptoms, although councillors at the meeting said they had yet to receive this communication.