Public health alert as Kent meningitis cases rise

An urgent public health alert has been issued after a deadly meningitis outbreak in Kent, with health workers across England urged to look out for signs of infection.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) issued the alert as a vaccination programme targeting about 5,000 students began at the University of Kent, following an outbreak thought to have originated at a nightclub in Canterbury.

A 21-year-old university student and Juliette, a sixth former at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School in Faversham, have died, with the number of confirmed and suspected cases now at 20.

The UKHSA alert is unusual but has been used in recent years for MPox and other public health issues.

UKHSA chief executive Susan Hopkins told the BBC that it was trying to work out why the infection had spread so fast in Canterbury.

She said vaccines held by the government would be used for NHS patients, including students in Kent, but it would not rule out supplying some to pharmacies.

A case has also now been confirmed at Canterbury Christ Church University.

Christ Church student Tyra Skinner, 20, contracted meningitis after attending the Club Chemistry nightclub, her parents said.

The family has taken antibiotics and Tyra is in a stable condition at the William Harvey Hospital, Ashford.

Her mother, Candice Skinner, said: "We just thought she was getting flu symptoms.

"She started developing a red eye over the weekend and I thought she had pink eye, and then on Monday she was really, really ill, slumped over, no energy, so we took her to hospital."

The UKHSA said about 2,500 doses of antibiotics had been administered across Kent.

GPs across the country have been told to prescribe antibiotics to anyone who visited the nightclub from 5 to 7 March, plus students from the University of Kent.

The UKHSA said antibiotics remained the most effective treatment.

Health chiefs have described the "explosive nature" of the outbreak as unprecedented.

Hopkins previously said it looked as though there had been a super spreader event, with the outbreak ongoing within university halls of residences, but that she could not yet confirm where the initial infection came from.

Vice-chancellor and principal of Canterbury Christ Church University, Prof Rama Thirunamachandran, said the UKHSA had confirmed a case of meningococcal disease involving a student.

He said: "We have reached out to support the individual directly. This case is linked to the initial cluster associated with Club Chemistry."

Thirunamachandran said the campus remained open and core teaching, learning and research activities would continue.

Five schools in the county have also confirmed or suspected cases.

At the University of Kent, students told of how they had been at social events and in the library, as some got vaccinated to protect family at home.

Economics student Mohammed Olayinka said the campus was "a bit of a ghost town", adding some thought it best to stay, but others "panicked and left".

Architecture student Sophie said some students fled the city.

"It's so quiet now, most of our friends have gone home, it's weird," she said. "We are the only two left in our house and we're both going home today."

She was waiting to take her antibiotics until she knew if she had been in close contact with anyone who had become ill.

Oliver Contreras, a 22-year-old postgraduate law student from Brighton, East Sussex, was the first to have the vaccination. He said he was at social events on Sunday and wished he had had information before going out.

Architecture student Divine Nweze said: "My parents just told me, 'get up and get the vaccine'. They won't even let me go home because of what's going on."

On Wednesday, nurses with plastic aprons and face masks manned 15 tables in a sports hall at the University of Kent to begin immunisations, in scenes reminiscent of the Covid-19 pandemic.

A university spokesperson said vaccines were under way and staff and students were being offered precautionary antibiotics "to offer a swift response and reassurance".

Jabs were offered from 14:00 GMT on Wednesday and will be from 09:00 on Thursday.

The vaccination is two doses and arrangements will be made for students to receive their second jab on campus.

As demand grows for vaccines at pharmacies, Boots has implemented a queuing system and Superdrug has formed a waiting list for jabs.

Meanwhile, French authorities have said a person admitted to hospital there after returning from England was in a "stable" condition.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the outbreak was not national, but the response was being managed nationally.

He said there were at least 350 cases of meningitis a year and he would not be surprised if there were cases in different parts of the country that were unconnected to the outbreak in Kent.

"What's worried us about the Canterbury outbreak is the pace and extent of the spread of the disease – that is unprecedented," he said.

"That's why we are being so proactive in the provision of antibiotics, because they're an effective treatment, but also standing up vaccination at a pace and in a way that we wouldn't normally do."

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said it was a "deeply difficult" time for the families of those who had died and who were seriously ill.

He said health experts were working to identify close contacts, distribute antibiotics and begin targeted vaccinations.

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