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Practice paper

Case study: Managing a meningococcal B outbreak at a university

Justin Cuckow and Laura Smythson
Journal of Business Continuity & Emergency Planning, 12 (3), 263-276 (2019)
https://doi.org/10.69554/YQGC7877

Abstract

During the end of March and early April 2017, three University of Surrey students were confirmed as having contracted meningococcal B. The three cases were declared a cluster by Public Health England (PHE) and led to an urgent multi-agency response to protect 4,296 students in university residences identified as being at risk. This case study shows how the university had to arrange and communicate the need for two separate vaccinations, four weeks apart to more than 4,200 students. This timescale meant overlapping with examinations, and had to be complete before students went home for the summer. The immunisation, carried out by teams from Children and Family Health Surrey would be the largest meningococcal B vaccination programme as the result of an outbreak ever carried out in Europe, and achieved very high coverage rates. University staff worked closely with PHE, health and local partners, meningitis charities and the Students’ Union to set up the vaccinations, while also maintaining business-as-usual operations. The case study shares the learning and highlights some of the challenges involved in responding to protracted contagious and notifiable disease outbreaks.

Keywords: meningitis; vaccination; public health; outbreak; university

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Author's Biography

Justin Cuckow is a senior risk and business continuity manager at the University of Surrey. He is an Associate Fellow of the Business Continuity Institute and member of the Emergency Planning Society with an MSc in project management and lead auditor qualifications to ISO 22301. He has supported West Sussex County Council and Fire and Rescue Service to attain certification to the British Standard for Business Continuity, and served as Resilience Manager for Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust. He recently led the University of Surrey to gain certification to ISO 22301.

Laura Smythson is Deputy Director of Wellbeing & Lead Nurse at the University of Surrey’s Health Centre. She has a higher education academy teaching qualification and is a member of both the Institute of and Management and Higher Education Academy. Laura is a key figure in the Healthy University network and sits on the executive board of the Student Health Association and the University UK Health and Wellbeing Board. Laura was operational lead for the University of Surrey’s response to the 2017 outbreak of meningitis B.

Citation

Cuckow, Justin and Smythson, Laura (2019, March 1). Case study: Managing a meningococcal B outbreak at a university. In the Journal of Business Continuity & Emergency Planning, Volume 12, Issue 3. https://doi.org/10.69554/YQGC7877.

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cover image, Journal of Business Continuity & Emergency Planning
Journal of Business Continuity & Emergency Planning
Volume 12 / Issue 3
© Henry Stewart
Publications LLP

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