5,000 Students To Receive Vaccine At UK Varsity After Two Die In Meningitis Outbreak
Adedokun Waliyu
1 min read
About 5,000 students are set to receive the meningitis B (MenB) vaccine at the University of Kent following an outbreak that has left two people dead.
According to the UK Mirror, the move comes as health officials race to contain the spread of the disease, with hundreds of close contacts being offered antibiotics as an immediate precaution.
Fifteen cases of meningitis have been reported in the Canterbury area to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), all requiring hospital admission.
Four were confirmed as MenB, while officials warn the number could rise given the infection’s incubation period of two to 14 days.
The BBC identified the two deaths as a 21-year-old university student and Juliette, a sixth-form pupil at Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School in Faversham.
Susan Hopkins, UKHSA chief executive, described the outbreak as having an “explosive nature”, while deputy chief medical officer Thomas Waite said it was the fastest-growing outbreak he had seen in his career.
According to the BBC, Hopkins said the pattern suggests a possible super-spreader event within university halls of residence, likely linked to social mixing, but the source of the initial infection remains unclear.
