A meningitis charity has warned that “very concerning” new data shows cases of the diseases more than doubled in a year in England. Meningitis Now’s analysis of UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) figures show cases of invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) in England increased from 80 in 2020-2021 to 205 in the 12 months from July 2021 to June 2022.
The UKHSA said it could not confirm or refute the figures as it has not yet published its latest annual health protection report, due to be released in a few weeks. However, Meningitis Now appears to have added up the data from UKHSA’s four published quarterly reports to get its figures.
UKHSA recorded 28 cases in July to September 2021, 65 in October to December 2021, 57 in January to March 2022 and 55 in April to June 2022, the reports show. In the most recent report, it noted the 55 cases of IMD reported were “triple the number of cases in the equivalent period in 2021 when 17 cases were reported and double the 29 cases reported in 2020”.
