Bereaved mother warns of meningitis jab ‘roulette’

The government is playing “Russian roulette” with the lives of young people, a mother who lost her 18-year-old son to Meningitis B has warned, as an “explosive” outbreak of the deadly virus grips Kent.

- REBECCA WHITTAKER

Marrissa Mullans from Prestwich is calling on ministers to roll out the menB vaccine to all young people, not just those born after 2015. It comes after the number of cases linked to the current outbreak, which has already claimed two lives, grew to 20 on Wednesday.

The infections, now linked to two universities, at least five schools and the Club Chemistry nightclub, have prompted health officials to offer the vaccine to the 5,000 students living in halls of residence at the University of Kent’s Canterbury campus.

Pharmacies in the county are scrambling to get private supplies, as a surge in demand has left them with little to no stock. But the government has so far resisted offering the vaccine more widely on the NHS.

Ms Mullans, 46, has called for a rethink on that policy after she lost her son Alfie in June 2023 in what she has described as a "horrendous nightmare".

She remembers how he came home from college feeling lethargic, had lost his appetite and complained of a headache. But it wasn’t until his parents noticed he had a rash on his chest the next morning that they suspected it could be meningitis and rushed him to A&E.

On the drive to the hospital, Mrs Mullans recalls looking in her rearview mirror and seeing Alfie look "purple from head to toe". Once they arrived at A&E, medics tried to put him into an induced coma, but his heart stopped beating just a day after the onset of his symptoms.