Experts warn meningitis poses a risk to millions of vulnerable Brits – as health officials battle to stop Kent outbreak spreading to London

The meningitis outbreak in Kent poses a risk vulnerable people across Britain from babies to teenagers and the elderly, experts warned today.

Health officials are trying to stop the outbreak spreading further after confirming the strain which has killed two students and left 11 gravely ill is group B.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said some cases of meningitis have been confirmed as MenB, and it will confirm other cases ‘when we have the full results’.

Babies and young children, teenagers, young adults, people in crowded settings and those with weakened immune systems including smokers are all at heightened risk.

MenB is the UK’s most common cause of meningococcal meningitis, but routine vaccination against the strain for babies and young children only began in 2015.

This means the current generation of teenagers and students are not covered – and were instead offered vaccinations against other strains when they were aged 13 or 14.

Professor Paul Hunter, an infectious disease expert at the University of East Anglia, said today: ‘People who are suffering from respiratory viruses, particularly influenza, are at an increased risk of bacterial infections, including meningococcal disease.

‘The flu virus damages the lining of the airways and weakens the immune system, allowing bacteria to invade and cause severe infections such as meningitis.

‘This is why, when there is a spike in flu cases, there can also be an increase in cases of meningococcal disease. In fact, a significant proportion of influenza-related deaths are caused by secondary bacterial infections rather than the influenza virus itself.’

Britain’s six million smokers, whose habit weakens their lungs, are also at increased risk, he added. People who frequent bars and clubs, where close contact is the norm, are also more vulnerable, as they are simply more likely to be exposed.

In addition, gay men – referred to by public health officials as men who have sex with men, or MSM – may also be at increased risk because they are more likely to have multiple intimate partners.

The same goes for people with compromised immune systems due to other conditions.

Cancer, kidney or liver disease, diabetes, autoimmune disorders and transplants – which affect tens of millions of patients – are associated with up to a 40-fold increased risk.

HIV, which affects 100,000 people in the UK, is also associated with up to a 13-fold increased risk.

Mr Hunter said: ‘People without a working spleen, a condition known as asplenia, are also at higher risk because the spleen is an important part of the immune system. It helps filter the blood and plays a key role in defending against certain bacteria.’

Asplenia is rare, affecting around 12,000 people in the UK – most have had their spleen removed surgically after a car accident, sports injury or other trauma.

‘Without a functioning spleen, the body is less able to fight encapsulated bacteria such as meningococcus, which can lead to rapid, overwhelming and potentially fatal infections,’ he added.

Experts believe the spread of the disease through schools and the University of Kent in Canterbury may have been hastened by youngsters sharing vapes at a nightclub.

Two girls who were said to have attended Club Chemistry and were sharing vapes with each other were reported to have developed suspected cases of meningitis.

While many of the university’s students come from Kent, thousands more are from London and may have mixed at parties before going to see their families on Mother’s Day. Some will also likely be travelling home for the Easter holidays later this month.

There have already been reports of a suspected case in London involving a 24-year-old woman who had been admitted to hospital, according to her brother Josh Risby who said she was not a student in Canterbury and had not been to the nightclub.

Mr Risby, 26, who was in Canterbury to receive antibiotics, told Kent Online: ‘The slight concern for us is that I’m not a student here, my girlfriend’s not a student here, my sister’s not a student here and she’s come down potentially with meningitis.

‘So where’s that come from? So we called 111 and said to them, you know, this is what’s happened, what do you advise? And they sent us up here to come and get the antibiotic basically. My sister’s up in London most of the time, living in London, working up there. I don’t have any contact with anybody at the university.’

It comes as health officials work to curb the deadly meningitis outbreak, tracing and treating thousands of potential contacts as reports of suspected cases spread.

Experts also warned that sharing a vape can transfer saliva directly between users, posing an infection risk if one person has meningitis.

Shane Margereson, owner of UK vape retailer Ecigone, said: ‘Passing a vape to a friend has become a completely automatic thing for a lot of people in social situations, but it’s a habit that carries a very real risk that most people simply aren’t aware of.

‘Every time a vaping device is shared, saliva is transferred directly from one person to another – and with it, potentially harmful bacteria and viruses.’

He added: ‘When something as dangerous as meningitis is circulating, any behaviour that involves the transfer of saliva needs to be reconsidered. Meningococcal bacteria can be carried by someone who appears and feels completely healthy, with no symptoms whatsoever. That’s what makes it so dangerous.’

The emergency response has seen 2,000 students receive preventative antibiotics in Canterbury after the invasive strain of the disease swept through the city.

One victim was Juliette Kenny, an 18-year-old sixth form student at Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School in Faversham who died on Saturday. Her father Michael told the BBC the family were ‘beyond devastated and they have no words to express their loss’.

Juliette died surrounded by her family, and her grandmother Linda Kenny told the Daily Mail: ‘I just can’t bring myself to say anything otherwise I will cry. We are all on antibiotics because we were with Juliette in hospital when she passed away.’

Officials expanded the mass treatment as they appealed for potentially thousands of revellers to come forward after the source of the outbreak was tracked to the nightclub.

Health teams are still scrambling to identify and alert those who encountered the infected after tracing their whereabouts from club nights to house parties and university halls to secondary schools and sixth forms.

It is feared the spread of the disease, the specific strain of which is yet to be identified, may have been hastened by vape sharing among youngsters.

The operation was launched at the University of Kent on Sunday after the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) was alerted to a ‘cluster of cases’ in the area on Saturday night. 

The agency said it acted ‘immediately’ after questions were raised over why it took almost another 24 hours to inform the public.

But a Kent MP questioned this morning whether the UKHSA could have communicated with the public sooner about the outbreak.

Asked whether she had concerns about a ‘potential delay’ in communications, former health minister Helen Whately told Times Radio: ‘I do, I would like to have UKHSA come forward and explain the timeline there.

‘I first heard about the outbreak through picking it up on the internet, on Facebook on Sunday evening, but it sounds like actually they knew about it earlier than that.

‘I didn’t get an update myself until I contacted the Health Secretary first thing on Monday morning.

‘I then had a briefing from the chief executive of UKHSA, Susan Hopkins, and we spoke about the importance of reaching the school kids, as well as the students from the university because of the mixing.

‘But there is a question about could that have been acted on quicker if there’d been more public engagement sooner.’

Ms Whately, the MP for Faversham and Mid Kent, said it was ‘a good step’ that young people were now being given antibiotics, and she called for more communication with parents about whether it was safe for their children to go to school.

She also said the Government should consider a ‘catch-up’ vaccination campaign for young people in the wake of the meningitis outbreak in Kent.

Ms Whately pointed out that there had been vaccinations against meningitis B for babies since 2015, but those affected by the current outbreak ‘won’t have been vaccinated as babies in that way because they were born before that’.

She said: ‘So they do have a vulnerability. And one of the things that the Government (and) UKHSA will need to look at is if there is now a greater risk around this outbreak – and in future – should there be some kind of vaccination catch-up for that group.’

Dr Gayatri Amirthalingam, from the UKHSA, told BBC Radio 5 Live this morning that the first cases were identified on Saturday and said officials ‘absolutely’ reacted quickly enough.

She added that the initial cases ‘were taken extremely seriously’, with local public health teams immediately ‘identifying the closest contacts who would benefit from preventative antibiotics’.

Dr Amirthalingam also said the pace of the outbreak was ‘certainly unusual’, but stressed: ‘As serious and devastating as this current outbreak is, it’s very much contained in the local area in Canterbury and Kent, we’re not seeing this spread more widely.’

She also said the spread of the disease ‘really requires very close, prolonged contact or intimate contact such as kissing’.

Dr Amirthalingam, the deputy director of the immunisation and vaccine preventable diseases division at the UKHSA, also denied there had been a delay in responding to the outbreak.

She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘I think it’s important to stress that early on, there were only individual cases, and it actually needs further detailed follow-up with those cases to work out the links between the different cases.

‘And you’d appreciate with these individuals, some of whom are extremely unwell in hospital, it can be difficult to try and ascertain detailed follow-up information.

‘But that was really, to be fair, done very rapidly over the weekend, to be able to give that information out and identify the links within 24 hours.

‘On reflection, people in the local teams acted very, very quickly. I don’t believe there’s been any delay in terms of the public health response.’

The first fatality was a student who lived on campus, followed by Juliette, who attended the grammar school in Faversham ten miles away.

Reports of suspected cases – with at least one victim said to be in a coma – have spread as far as Whitstable on the coast and across the commuter town of Ashford.

Its origins have been traced to Club Chemistry, a venue popular with students which held indie nights between March 5 and March 7. 

The UKHSA urged anyone who visited the venue to attend one of four sites set up to provide preventive antibiotics.

It is believed registered nurses in the area have been called in to help with the large-scale operation amid fears medics will have to draw on national reserves of antibiotics if it is not contained soon.

In scenes reminiscent of the Covid pandemic, masked students joined long queues, some ranging from 400 to 500 strong at peak times, at Kent University’s Senate building yesterday to receive treatment.

Trish Mannes, UKHSA regional deputy director for the South East, said: ‘Our investigations have identified that some cases visited Club Chemistry in Canterbury and it is important that anyone who visited the club between March 5 and 7 now comes forward for preventive antibiotic treatment as a precaution, as well as those offered antibiotics at the university – these students are being contacted directly through the university.’

Louise Jones-Roberts, the owner of Club Chemistry, said more than 2,000 people would have visited the venue over the three dates. Those who visited now need tracing for antibiotics.

Ms Jones-Roberts said she believed more than one case was connected to mingling at the club and she had ‘been told they started showing symptoms on March 10.’

She added that she had managed to contact around 90 out of 95 members of staff at the club and they had gone to get antibiotics.

Ms Jones-Roberts said: ‘I’m devastated for the families affected. It’s so incredibly sad. I just really hope people know the symptoms and no more lives are lost.’

She said the club would remain closed until further notice, adding: ‘It is not a hard decision to close – we are talking about people’s lives.’

The 1,600-capacity venue hoped ticket sales and its ID scanner that takes pictures of driving licences could help identify those who were there. 

Ms Jones-Roberts also later said a staff member with confirmed meningitis was doing well and receiving treatment.

She said two other employees with suspected meningitis had since been given the all clear for the infection.

There were also reports of a boy, thought to be aged around 17, being left in a coma after hosting a house party in Whitstable on Saturday.

Among those attending was Jude File, 15, who told the Daily Mail: ‘Everyone’s a bit freaked out. What’s worrying is how quickly this is spreading and it doesn’t seem to be isolated.’

Of the party, he added: ‘We got the bus to Whitstable from Canterbury and there were Kent University students on there, so I wonder if that was the source?’

Jude attended the university campus to receive preventive treatment yesterday, adding: ‘I had to say who I had been in contact with at the party. It’s just prevention but best be safe than sorry.’

His father Dan File, from Folkestone, added: ‘It’s very concerning. We went to the university to get the antibiotics after we learned a friend of a friend was in an induced coma.’

Two more schools were also put on alert yesterday, with a Year 13 pupil at Norton Knatchbull School in Ashford being admitted to hospital with a suspected case.

Simon Langton Grammar School in Canterbury was closed to all Year 13 pupils while several local events, including a St Patrick’s Day rave, were cancelled.

At Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School, headmistress Amelia McIlroy fought back tears as she said: ‘Juliette embraced everything that school had to offer with great enthusiasm and joy and her humour and positivity were captivating.

‘She was a genuinely caring and attentive listener, a true friend – who listened with warmth, respect and sincere interest to her peers and to our staff.

‘In short, she was a lovely girl – her beautiful smile, her loving nature and her sense of fun will be hugely missed. We are all devastated.’

Students from the University of Kent’s Turing block described how medics in hazmat suits and paramedics descended on the campus on Sunday.

The university, which said it was ‘deeply saddened’ at the death of one of its students, has moved exams and classes online as a result of the outbreak.

Meningococcal bacteria can cause serious illness, including inflammation of the lining of the brain and blood poisoning, which can rapidly lead to sepsis.

Meanwhile a charity has called for young people to be vaccinated against meningitis B on the NHS.

The health service offers babies free jabs against this strain but children born before 2015 have missed out unless their parents paid privately.

The MenACWY vaccine is offered to children aged 14 to protect against meningitis A, C, W and Y but uptake is only around 70 to 75 per cent and remains below pre-pandemic levels.

If laboratory testing of patients in Kent indicates there is a jab that protects against the outbreak strain, authorities could launch a catch-up programme for students in the area who have not received it.

The Meningitis Now charity said: ‘We are launching a new campaign – ‘No Plan B for men B’ – to address the rising concern of men B in teens and young people who are unvaccinated.’ It added that the B strain was one of the most common causes of meningitis in the UK, especially among under-fives and those aged 15 to 24.

The charity added: ‘During the pandemic, cases of meningitis fell to an all-time low in the UK.

‘In the years following, cases of men B disease have been increasing among teenagers and young people. We have effective, life-saving vaccines against men B, which have been offered to babies on the NHS vaccination programme since 2015. 

‘However, those born before 2015 are mostly unvaccinated against men B.

‘We believe the men B vaccine should be offered to teenagers and young people. It is vital that we protect this at-risk age group. There is no other way to prevent men B disease.’

The campaign is calling for meningitis B jabs to be given to those most at risk plus a booster programme to protect adolescents from 2030.

It also says meningitis B jabs should be available on the high street ‘at a fair price’, as parents are currently paying around £220 for children to receive it privately.

The meningitis sub-group of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation decided last summer that it was not cost-effective to offer meningitis B booster vaccines to adolescents.

Minutes from the meeting show there is some doubt among experts about the effectiveness of a booster, even though it is offered in other developed countries.

National Union of Students president Amira Campbell said: ‘There is simply not enough awareness of meningitis, especially as young people head off to university.

‘The meningitis vaccines should be offered on the NHS for young people – there should never be a cost barrier to life-saving vaccines.’

The new Archbishop of Canterbury, Dame Sarah Mullally, described the deaths of two young people as a ‘devastating loss’.

In a statement published today as she prepares to make a pilgrimage from London to Canterbury, Dame Sarah said: ‘My prayers are with the families of the two young people who have tragically died in the meningitis outbreak in Kent. My heart goes out to them in their devastating loss.

‘I’m praying too for all those who’ve been affected by the outbreak, and for everyone working so hard to care for them and protect local communities.’

Dame Sarah will embark on her six-day walk to Canterbury Cathedral this afternoon, setting off from St Paul’s Cathedral.