Infectious diseases consultant, living in Belfast, MSc in epidemiology. 100% pro vaccine. 100% against a vaccine only strategy. Against living with covid.
Mar 20 • 10 tweets • 2 min read
Carriage of the meningococcus bacteria is common in the population. However it is very uncommon for the bacteria to cause invasive infection. This means that the current outbreak is caused by an alteration in the bacteria, or the host, or probably a combination of the both.
A strain causing such a large outbreak is likely to have pathogen factors that have increased the chance of invasive infection. It may also be more easily transmissible, however meningococcal bacteria must transmit easily to be so widespread in the population.
