Overview
- Fifteen cases have been reported in the Canterbury area, including two deaths, with about 11 people seriously ill in hospital.
- Health Secretary Wes Streeting announced a vaccination campaign for University of Kent students, with jabs prioritised for those in halls of residence.
- UKHSA and the NHS are tracing contacts, contacting more than 30,000 students, staff and families, and have administered about 700 courses of preventative antibiotics on campus.
- Laboratory testing has identified meningococcal group B in multiple cases, and experts note many older teenagers lack MenB protection while MenACWY uptake is around 73%.
- Public health teams link cases to student socialising and have urged anyone who visited Club Chemistry on 5–7 March to seek prophylactic antibiotics, and France has reported a linked case.