Parents of a Manx student who died from meningitis have challenged the government’s MenB position following the minister’s claim that the island’s risk is “very low”.
Brett and Nicola Martin, whose 21‑year‑old son Lucas died suddenly from meningitis in 2023, said they read the minister’s response “with dismay”.
While the island follows the UK’s routine immunisation schedule, the MenB vaccine is only offered to infants and is not part of the teenage MenACWY programme.
The Martins argue that the exclusion of MenB for older age groups is driven by cost rather than medical reasoning.
They say this leaves children born before 2015, who never received the infant MenB doses, unprotected just as they reach university age, when vulnerability to meningococcal disease is highest.
No Vaccination & No Informed Choice
They also say many parents are unaware that the MenB vaccine is available privately, describing this lack of information as “the worst of all worlds — no vaccination and no informed choice”.
Sharing the circumstances of their son’s death, the Martins said Lucas deteriorated within hours and showed none of the classic symptoms often associated with meningitis.
“We’ll never know if the MenB jab would have helped,” they said, “but we were never made aware of its existence and would have paid in a heartbeat.”
The family has since established a charity, Looky’s Aid, in Lucas’s memory.
As part of its work, it plans to offer financial support for MenB vaccinations to students from low‑income families heading to university this September.
Parents wishing to register interest can contact the charity at info@lookys-aid.org.
The Martin’s full statement is below:
“We read with dismay Minister Ashford’s response to the question of whether the Meningitis B vaccine should be added to the current Meningitis A,C,W, and Y jabs offered to teenagers (Risk of Meningitis outbreak in the Isle of Man ‘very low’).
Health officials in Kent undoubtedly believed an outbreak of Men B in their area was unlikely until two young people died and many more needed critical care. After that they couldn’t vaccinate young people fast enough!
Let’s be clear – the vaccine is not omitted on medical grounds – it’s a tried and tested protection against a deadly disease. No, although it’s never said in government statements, it’s simply down to cost. In a nutshell, public health authorities believe that, at around £200 per course, it’s too expensive per life saved. So, we as a society spend £730 million per year on government payroll but can’t find 0.02% of that amount to protect a full university cohort of youngsters?
The consequence of excluding the Men B jab is that children born before 2015 (when the vaccine was introduced for babies) are left totally unprotected, and some of those kids are now reaching university age, when their vulnerability to meningitis is at its highest. To compound matters, because decisions like this (not to vaccinate on cost grounds) are contentious, governments tend to keep quiet and not advertise the option to go private. The result is the worst of all worlds – no vaccination and no informed choice for parents.
Platitudes such as the one in the minister’s published response – ‘we will continue to monitor the situation closely’ – are completely worthless when it comes to meningitis. Monitoring is just a euphemism for reacting after young people have become critically ill, permanently disabled, or died from an outbreak.
We lost our 21 year-old son, Lucas, to meningitis in 2023. At 9am we were talking to him on a FaceTime call, at 2pm he was in ICU, and by that evening he was beyond help. It really is that quick and devastating- in Lucas’s case no rash, no aversion to light, no stiff neck, no vomiting – just the symptoms of a head cold. We’ll never know if the Men B jab would have helped, but we were never made aware of its existence and would have paid in a heartbeat if we’d known that added protection was available.
We can’t bring Lucas back, but the next best thing we can do is use our experience to reduce the risk to other young people. If the health services won’t protect your child from Men B, we would urge you to pay privately for the required vaccinations. Believe us, it’s a cost that pales into insignificance when weighed against the potential price of your son or daughter not having every protection available.
Our family has established a charity called Looky’s Aid in memory of our son. Its aim is to help young people facing adversity, and as part of that remit we will be offering help with vaccination costs for youngsters from low income families who are heading to university this September. If you wish to have your child vaccinated and genuinely need financial assistance to do so, please register your interest with us via info@lookys-aid.org and we will be in touch with details shortly.“
