Why isn everyone who has been in contact with a meningitis case given antibiotics and vaccine?
Antibiotics, like all drugs, may cause side effects. It is not sensible to expose low risk people to these side effects unless they have a high risk of developing the disease. People who have been in very close contact with a case have a risk of developing the disease about 150 times greater than the general population. In this instance giving antibiotics is the least risky option. For many people in less close contact, such as workmates or classmates, the risk of developing side effects from the antibiotics is higher than the risk of developing the disease so it is safest NOT to give antibiotics. Other problems result from inappropriate use of antibiotics: • The meningitis germ may become resistant to the antibiotics and so make future protection impossible. • Everyone carries a number of harmless germs in their nose and throat, which act to protect them against infection with more dangerous germs, such as the meningococcus. Antibiotics will kill all these harmless germs for a short w
