The family of an 18-year-old girl who died from meningitis B has described the symptoms she experienced just hours before her death. Juliette Kenny, a sixth-form student from Kent, passed away on March 14 after contracting the infection during an outbreak in Canterbury. She died less than 12 hours after first showing signs of illness.
Her father, Michael Kenny, said Juliette began vomiting and developed discolouration on her cheeks in the early hours of Friday. At that point, she had no other symptoms. The teenager had been fit and healthy, having completed her practical PE A-level assessment the previous day.
The family took Juliette to a local emergency drop-in clinic, where she was given antibiotics and sent to A&E by ambulance. Despite the efforts of hospital staff, she died within hours. Mr Kenny said: 'We were with her at the end, and the last sounds that she heard were the voices of those who loved her.'
Mr Kenny has called for better protection against meningitis B for young people, urging the government to improve access to the MenB vaccine. The jab was introduced on the NHS for babies in 2015, meaning most young people born before then are not vaccinated unless they received it privately.
Vinny Smith, chief executive of Meningitis Research Foundation, noted that a 2015 call to make the MenB vaccine routinely available for all at-risk age groups was not taken forward as it was deemed not cost-effective. The UK Health Security Agency is investigating 29 cases linked to Canterbury, with two deaths reported.
