The government has expanded meningitis vaccination eligibility in Kent after seven new cases were confirmed, bringing the total to 27. Health Secretary Wes Streeting urged anyone who attended Club Chemistry in Canterbury between 5 and 15 March to seek antibiotics and vaccination.
The expansion covers students at the University of Kent and Canterbury Christ Church University, as well as sixth formers at four schools with confirmed or suspected cases. The University of Kent confirmed all its students and staff are now eligible for the vaccine.
UK Health Security Agency chief executive Prof Susan Hopkins said extending the programme to those offered preventive antibiotics is an important additional step. Officials believe the strategy of antibiotics and targeted vaccination is proving effective against the known meningitis B strain.
More than 100 students were turned away from a vaccine queue at the University of Kent's Canterbury campus due to capacity issues, with the clinic closing at 5pm. It will reopen on Friday morning. Additional vaccination centres will open at Faversham health centre, Vicarage Lane clinic in Ashford, and the University of Kent.
So far, 600 meningitis B vaccines have been administered at the university, and over 6,500 precautionary antibiotic doses have been issued. One school pupil and one university student have died in what officials described as the fastest-growing outbreak they have ever seen.
The UKHSA has issued an alert to the wider NHS about meningitis symptoms but stressed this does not signal nationwide spread. Prof Robin May said possible reasons for the large outbreak include individual behaviours or bacterial evolution for better transmission.
