Meningitis B vaccine for 100 people after teen's death

George Zographou, 18, from Bristol, fell ill at the Boardmasters surf and music festival in Newquay in August

About 100 people are to be offered a meningitis vaccine after a new case was linked to a teenager who died from the disease last month.

Public Health England said vaccinations would be offered to people in contact with George Zographou, 18 from Bristol, who died from the meningitis B strain.

It said the link "enabled us to identify a social network connecting George and our latest case".

It added there was "nothing unusual in the number of cases in the area".

Mike Wade, from Public Health England, said the infections are "incredibly rare"

Mike Wade, from Public Health England, said the organisation had been notified, in the past week, of three new cases - with only one being connected to St Brendan's Sixth Form College student, George. The teenager died after falling ill at the Boardmasters surf and music festival in Newquay in August.

Mr Wade said: "We are taking the extra precautionary step now to look at that list [of people connected to George] and to offer an antibiotic and vaccination for those individuals."

He said one of the confirmed cases involved a student from the college who had left last year and said there was "no heightened risk" in terms of the school's population.

"It's really important to stress that meningococcal infections are incredibly rare. From January, to the present, we've seen seven cases in the Bristol area as a whole," he said.

"That's seven cases in a population of half a million, so it's really important for the public to be assured that there's nothing unusual in terms of the number of cases we're seeing in the Bristol area."

Meningitis - what to look for:

◾High fever, with cold hands and feet

◾Vomiting

◾Drowsy, floppy and unresponsive

◾Pale, blotchy skin and a red rash that doesn't fade when a glass is rolled over it (but don't wait for the rash to develop if your child is unwell)

◾Stiff neck and dislike of bright light

◾Headache

◾Seizures