Laboratory confirmed cases of invasive meningococcal infection in England: January to March 2024
Updated 26 September 2024
Applies to England
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In England, the national UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) Meningococcal Reference Unit (MRU) confirmed 105 cases of invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) between January and March 2024. Case numbers were less than the 159 cases in the equivalent period between January and March 2020, before pandemic restrictions were implemented in the UK. Cases in the intervening years impacted by COVID-19 population control measures (1) were lower, with 18 and 57 confirmed in the equivalent periods in 2021 and 2022, respectively. Case numbers were higher, at 165, in the equivalent period in 2023 (Table 1).
Earlier reports on IMD cases in England are available at: Meningococcal disease: guidance, data and analysis
With the complete withdrawal of COVID-19 containment measures in England from July 2021, overall case numbers are now returning to pre-pandemic levels driven mainly by group B meningococcal disease (MenB). Cases due to the other capsular groups remained very low because of the highly effective indirect (herd) protection provided by the adolescent meningococcal ACWY (MenACWY) conjugate vaccine programme introduced in August 2015, alongside direct protection in those vaccinated (2).
The distribution of meningococcal cases by capsular group causing IMD is summarised in Table 1, with MenB accounting for 92.4% of all cases (97 of 105), followed by MenY acounting for 4.8% (5 cases), MenW for 1.9% (2 cases) and MenC for 0.95% (1 case) in this quarter of 2024. There were no confirmed cases for any other capsular groups.
There were 97 MenB cases confirmed between January and March 2024, compared to 156 cases, 51 cases, 12 cases, and 110 cases in the corresponding period in 2023, 2022, 2021 and 2020 (pre-pandemic), respectively. Between January and March 2024, MenB was responsible for 98.3% of IMD cases in individuals under 25 years of age and 84.4% of cases in individuals aged 25 years or older (Table 2). Both confirmed cases of MenW occured in individuals over 25 years of age. SImilarly, four of the five MenY cases and one confirmed case of MenC were reported in individuals over over 25 years of age.
The latest vaccine coverage information is available at Vaccine uptake guidance and the latest coverage data.
Table 1. Invasive meningococcal disease in England by capsular group and laboratory testing method: January to March only, 2023 and 2024
| Capsular groups [note 1] |
Culture and PCR (2023) | Culture and PCR (2024) | Culture only (2023) | Culture only (2024) | PCR only (2023) | PCR only (2024) | Total (2023) | Total (2024) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B | 28 | 19 | 27 | 23 | 101 | 55 | 156 | 97 |
| Ungrouped/ungroupable [note 2] | – | – | – | – | 3 | – | 3 | – |
| W | 1 | – | 2 | 2 | – | – | 3 | 2 |
| Y | 1 | – | – | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 5 |
| C | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | 1 |
| Total | 30 | 19 | 29 | 28 | 106 | 58 | 165 | 105 |
Note 1: No cases of group A, E, X or Z were confirmed during the periods summarised in the table.
Note 2: ‘Ungroupable’ refers to invasive clinical meningococcal isolates that were non-groupable, while ‘ungrouped’ refers to those that were culture-negative but PCR screen (ctrA) positive and negative for the four genogroups (B, C, W and Y) routinely tested for.
Table 2. Invasive meningococcal disease in England by capsular group [note 3] and age group at diagnosis: January to March 2024
| Age groups | Capsular group B | Capsular group C | Capsular group W | Capsular group Y | Total number | Total percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| <1 year | 5 | – | – | – | 5 | 4.8% |
| 1 to 4 years | 14 | – | – | – | 14 | 13.3% |
| 5 to 9 years | 8 | – | – | – | 8 | 7.6% |
| 10 to 14 years | 8 | – | – | – | 8 | 7.6% |
| 15 to 19 years | 16 | – | – | 1 | 17 | 16.2% |
| 20 to 24 years | 8 | – | – | – | 8 | 7.6% |
| 25 to 44 years | 15 | – | – | 1 | 16 | 15.2% |
| 45 to 64 years | 12 | 1 | – | 2 | 15 | 14.3% |
| 65+ years | 11 | – | 2 | 1 | 14 | 13.3% |
| Total | 97 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 105 | 100% |
Note 3: No cases of group A, E, X, Z or ‘Other’ capsular groups were confirmed during the period summarised in the table
References
1. Subbarao S, Campbell H, Ribeiro S, Clark SA, Lucidarme J, Ramsay M, and others (2021). ‘Invasive meningococcal disease, 2011-2020, and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, England’. Emerging Infectious Diseases: volume 27 number 9, pages 2,495 to 2,497
2. Campbell H. Andrews N. Parikh SR, White J, Edelstein M, Bai X and others ( and others (2022), ‘Impact of an adolescent meningococcal ACWY immunisation programme to control a national outbreak of group W meningococcal disease in England: a national surveillance and modelling study’ Lancet Child and Adolescent Health: volume 6, issue 2