The death toll of meningitis hit more than 250,000 worldwide in 2023, an “alarming” report has revealed, prompting experts to urge UK authorities to improve meningitis vaccine uptake.
The Lancet Neurology report, which sets out the impact of the deadly infection around the world, said there were 5,150 meningitis cases and 159 deaths in the UK in 2023.
Although global deaths have declined since 1990, progress is still “insufficient” to meet the World Health Organization’s (WHO) goal to reduce the global incidence by 50 per cent and deaths by 70 per cent by 2030 compared to 2015.
Experts have said there are “gaps” in the UK vaccination strategy and called for a catch up service for teenagers who did not receive their MenACWY immunisations, which protects against four strains of meningitis.
Olivier Picard, Chair of the National Pharmacy Association said: “This is an alarming report.”
“It’s clear there are gaps in the original national vaccination strategy for meningitis and pharmacies want to reach those in need of protection.
“The NHS should urgently commission pharmacies to provide a catch up vaccination service for teenagers who did not receive their MenACWY immunisations as well as commissioning pharmacies to support NHS colleagues with wider childhood vaccinations.”
Dr Tom Nutt, chief executive of Meningitis Now, also believes the data should be a “wake-up call” for governments to “prioritise vaccination.”
He said: “Vaccines are one of the most effective tools we have to prevent meningitis, yet uptake and access remain inconsistent across the world – and there is more we must do here in the UK too.
“The recent outbreak of meningitis in Kent shows how even the UK’s world-leading vaccination programme has gaps that leave many people, especially teenagers and young adults, at risk of the devastation that meningitis can cause.”
The new figures come after a deadly outbreak of meningitis B in Kent that caused 20 cases and left two people dead.
Over the past two decades England has seen an overall decline in bacterial meningitis cases from 2,595 in 1999 to 378 cases in 2024, due to the introduction of the MenACWY vaccine.
The MenACWY vaccine has been available to teenagers and those entering university, up to the age of 25 since 2015. Babies are given the meningitis B vaccine, but each vaccine protects from different strains of the virus. There was a targeted roll out of the MenACWY vaccine at Kent University following the outbreak.
Professor Martin Maiden, epidemiologist at Oxford University explained the MenACWY vaccine is “tremendously successful” and works largely through herd protection. But the MenB vaccine only offers individual protection.
“We know it won’t interrupt transmission, but it might stop some cases,” he told the Independent. “There’s one view that this is such a terrible disease, you must do anything to stop any single case. And there’s another view that says, we have limited resources in the health service.”
Professor Paul Hunter, epidemiologist at University of East Anglia explained cases in the UK are still well below the global average, but suggests in addition to immunisation “reducing poverty” could “make a real difference”.
Referencing his own 2004 study he said: “Cases are roughly twice as great in the most deprived 33 per cent of electoral wards compared to the rest of society.”
Dr Shamez Ladhani, consultant epidemiologist at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), said: “Vaccines have transformed our ability to protect people from bacterial meningitis, and the UK has invested significantly in immunisation programmes for those at highest risk.
“We continue to work with the NHS and partners to increase uptake across all age groups to ensure more people benefit from the protection these vaccines offer.
“Achieving the WHO’s ‘Defeating Meningitis by 2030’ goals will require continued collaboration – expanding vaccination, strengthening diagnostics, and ensuring that wherever gaps exist, we work to close them.”
The NHS and the Department for Health and Social Care have been contacted for a comment.
