Research and analysis

Laboratory confirmed cases of invasive meningoccocal infection in England: April to June 2026

Updated 27 August 2026

Applies to England

In England, the national UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) Meningococcal Reference Unit (MRU) confirmed 71 cases of invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) between April and June 2026.

Case numbers were lower than the 91 confirmed in the equivalent period in 2025 (Table 1) and the 122 cases in the equivalent period in 2019, before pandemic restrictions were implemented in the UK. Cases in 2020 and 2021 – impacted by COVID-19 population control measures (1) – were very low, with 29 and 17 confirmed in the equivalent periods, respectively. Fifty-five, 86 and 91 cases were confirmed in the second quarter of 2022, 2023 and 2024, respectively, as IMD re-emerged.

This re-emergence followed the complete withdrawal of COVID-19 containment measures in England from July 2021, with overall case numbers 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 from August 2015, alongside direct protection in those vaccinated (2).

The distribution of IMD cases by capsular group between April and June 2026 is summarised in Table 1. MenB accounted for 88.7% of all cases (63 of 71), followed by MenW at 5.6% (4 cases) with ungrouped/ungroupable cases also accounting for 5.6% (4 cases) of the total. There were no confirmed cases for any other capsular groups.

There was an unprecedented MenB outbreak associated with 21 cases in students and other young people in the Canterbury area in the first quarter of 2026 (3).

This was followed by two further MenB clusters in the April to June quarter involving three or more cases in Dorset and in the Reading area (4, 5). In response to this unusual series of clusters, a one-off time-limited MenB vaccination programme was announced in June 2026 (6) to begin in July 2026 and targeting those at highest risk of MenB disease, primarily school leavers and first year university and higher education undergraduates (7).

The 63 MenB cases confirmed between April and June 2026 compared to 68 cases in the corresponding period in 2025. During April to June 2026, MenB was responsible for 95.1% (39 of 41) of IMD cases in individuals under 25 years of age and 80.0% (24 of 30) of cases in individuals aged 25 years or older (Table 2). Three (of 4) confirmed cases of MenW occurred in individuals aged over 25 years.

The latest vaccine coverage information is available at Vaccine uptake guidance and the latest coverage data. Earlier reports on IMD cases in England are available: Meningococcal disease: guidance, data and analysis

Table 1. Invasive meningococcal disease in England by capsular group and laboratory testing method: April to June only, 2025 and 2026 [note 3]

Capsular groups [note 1]	PCR and culture (2025)	PCR and culture (2026)	Culture only (2025)	Culture only (2026)	PCR only (2025)	PCR only (2026)	Total (2025)	Total (2026)
B	23	9	17	24	28	30	68	63
Ungrouped/ungroupable [note 2]	0	0	0	3	1	1	1	4
W	3	0	11	3	5	1	19	4
Y	0	0	2	0	1	0	3	0
Total	26	9	30	30	35	32	91	71

Note 1: no cases of group A, C, E or X were confirmed during the periods summarised in the table.

Note 2: ungrouped or ungroupable refers to invasive clinical meningococcal isolates that were non-groupable, while ‘ungrouped’ cases refers to culture-negative but PCR screen (ctrA) positive and negative for the four genogroups (B, C, W and Y) routinely tested for.

Note 3: for calendar year 2025 and prior, date sample received by MRU was used. As of 2026, we are now using the date the sample was collected instead.

Table 2. Invasive meningococcal disease in England by capsular group [note 1] and age group at diagnosis: April to June 2026

Age groups	Capsular group B	Capsular group C	Capsular group W	Capsular group Y	Capsular group Z	Capsular group ‘Ungrouped or ungroupable’ [note 2]	Total number	Total percentage
Under 1 year	4	0	1	0	0	0	5	4.1%
1 to 4 years	6	0	0	0	0	0	6	4.9%
5 to 9 years	6	0	0	0	0	0	6	4.9%
10 to 14 years	4	0	0	0	0	1	5	4.1%
15 to 19 years	12	0	0	0	0	0	12	9.8%
20 to 24 years	7	0	0	0	0	0	7	5.7%
25 to 44 years	11	0	0	0	0	2	13	10.6%
45 to 64 years	6	0	2	0	0	1	9	7.3%
65 years and over	7	0	1	0	0	0	8	6.5%
Total	63	0	4	0	0	4	71	100.0%

Note 1: no cases of group A, C, E, X or Y were confirmed during the period summarised in the table.

Note 2: ungrouped or ungroupable refers to invasive clinical meningococcal isolates that were non-groupable, while ‘ungrouped’ cases refers to culture-negative but PCR screen (ctrA) positive and negative for the four genogroups (B, C, W and Y) routinely tested for.

References

1. Subbarao S, Campbell H, Ribeiro S, Clark SA, Lucidarme J and others (2021). ‘Invasive meningococcal disease, 2011 to 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 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 Adolescent Health: volume 6, issue 2

3. I’Anson J, Anderson C, Arora S, Borrow R, Bray N, Campbell H and other members of the Incident Management Team (2026). ‘Large outbreak of group B invasive meningococcal disease in young adults in South East England’ Eurosurveillance: volume 31, number 15

4. UKHSA (2026). Meningitis cases in Dorset: what you need to know

5. Rimmer A (2026). ‘Meningitis: One student in Reading has died and two are being treated’ BMJ news item (15 May)

6. UKHSA (2026). Meningococcal B (MenB) time-limited vaccination offer letter

7. Mandal S, Campbell H, Ribeiro S and others (2017). ‘Risk of invasive meningococcal disease in university students in England and optimal strategies for protection using MenACWY vaccine’ Vaccine: volume 35, pages 5,814 to 5,818