Ten things they'll be telling us about meningitis before the end of the week:
1
It's mild
2
Kids can't get it.
3
Kids can get it, but they can't be harmed by it
4
Kids can get it, and they can be harmed by it, but they can't die from it.
5
Kids can die from it, but it's a peaceful merciful death.
6
It's not real.
7
It’s rare.
8
It’s always been this rare.
9
Cases are rising, but that’s just better testing.
10
It only affects people with underlying conditions.
11
Everyone has underlying conditions.
12
Cases are rising, but that’s just better testing.
13
Deaths are rising, but that’s just better reporting.
14
It only affects people who were already going to die.
15
It’s just a bad flu.
16
Most people don't die.
17
It’s just a bad cold.
18
It’s just anxiety.
19
It’s just social media hype.
20
It’s only happening in one area.
21
The area is a very big area with 30 million people living in it.
22
It’s only happening in one age group
23
The age group is 0-105.
24
It’s only happening to the unvaccinated.
25
It’s only happening to the vaccinated.
26
It’s airborne panic.
27
It’s not spreading.
28
It’s spreading but slowly.
29
It's stopped spreading because it's now everywhere.
30
Hospitals are coping.
31
Hospitals are stretched but resilient.
32
Hospitals are overwhelmed but that’s winter pressure.
33
Experts are monitoring the situation.
34
Experts are surprised by the situation.
35
Experts say there was no way to predict the situation.
36
Now is not the time to assign blame.
37
Now is the time to move on.
38
Numbers are going up, but from a very low base.
39
We must not cause unnecessary alarm.
40
The data is provisional.
41
The data is complex.
42
We've changed the way we collect data so it's no longer comparable.
43
Year-on-year comparisons are misleading.
44
International comparisons are misleading.
45
Historical comparisons are misleading.
46
Modelling is unreliable.
47
Anecdotes are unreliable.
48
The situation is dynamic.
49
Guidance remains unchanged.
50
Guidance has been updated.
51
Guidance was always clear.
52
Lessons will be learned.
53
This is the new normal.
54
Closing schools would cause more harm.
55
It has to be individual responsibility.
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