Meningitis drugs 'protect family'

A child with a characteristic meningitis rash

Everybody who comes into contact with someone who has meningitis should be given antibiotics, a study suggests.

Doctors from the UK's Health Protection Agency say it can reduce their risk of catching the disease by 89%.

While most people are given antibiotics, there has been no clear evidence until now that it works.

But after reviewing the findings from five studies, the doctors said there was strong evidence to back the policy of giving these drugs to contacts.

Treat patients

The doctors also found evidence to suggest that these drugs, called chemoprophylaxis, should be given to patients who have been treated for the disease when they leave hospital.

They said at least 3% of patients can still carry the virulent meningococcal strain even after they have been treated with penicillin.

The doctors said there was no evidence to support the indiscriminate prescribing of antibiotics to people outside close household contacts.

They also said there were insufficient studies to estimate the effect of antibiotic treatment in childcare centres.

Policies on treating both patients and close contacts vary around the world.

"There are no uniform recommendations as to how contacts should be managed in day care settings," said the researchers.

"The national control policies of the UK and Denmark recommend chemoprophylaxis only after the second case in a day care setting, whereas other countries such as Ireland, Sweden, Spain and Germany recommend chemoprophylaxis after a single case."

They said further research is needed to determine which is the correct approach.

"As clusters are unusual in this setting and as policies vary by country, a multinational study may be needed to provide evidence on benefit," they said.

The findings were published in the annual report of the HPA's South West team.