Overview
- UKHSA said Sunday that confirmed cases fell to 20 with nine still under investigation, taking the total to 29 after several earlier positives were reclassified and with no new cases in the past 24 hours.
- NHS Kent and Medway has delivered about 9,000 MenB vaccine doses and 12,595 courses of antibiotics since clinics opened, and local queues eased as coverage widened.
- Nineteen of the 20 confirmed infections are meningococcal B, all patients have been admitted to hospital, and two students have died after exposure linked to Canterbury’s Club Chemistry.
- UKHSA reported cases tied to pupils at four Kent schools and one London higher-education student, French officials flagged a linked case, and a suspected case at a Wigan college was assessed with no known connection to Kent.
- Early sequencing points to a known MenB ST‑41/44 strain rather than a new variant, and experts say the Bexsero vaccine should protect, which underpins the push for rapid prophylaxis given the 2–14 day incubation window.