Meningitis vaccines offered to some Year 11 pupils

Meningitis B vaccinations will be extended to Year 11 pupils at schools where students have already received them, UK health chiefs have said.

Vaccinations in Kent will be widened out to 15 and 16-year-olds as a precautionary measure to "ensure longer-term protection", the UK Health and Security Agency (UKHSA) said.

No new meningitis cases have been reported for the second day in a row following the outbreak in Kent earlier this month.

The UKHSA said the number of confirmed cases remained at 20, while three cases remained under investigation, dropping the total number of cases to 23 from the 29 reported on Sunday.

The UKHSA confirmed on Monday that it had also vaccinated more than 10,000 people following the death of two people in the outbreak earlier this month.

Over 13,000 doses of antibiotics have also been administered, it added.

Prof Robin May, chief scientific officer at the UKHSA, says its analysis offers "strong reassurance that our existing vaccinations and antibiotic treatment offer will be effective against this strain".

The number of confirmed cases previously dropped on Sunday, from 23 to 20, while the number of probable cases also fell from 11 to nine.

Trish Mannes, regional deputy director for the South East, said on Monday that the outbreak was now passed its peak.