Students in Canterbury have described fear and panic spreading through their community amid a meningitis B outbreak that has killed two people, a university student and a sixth-former. Hundreds of students at the University of Kent queued for antibiotics on Monday, while in-person exams were moved online as authorities sought to bring the situation under control.
Joe Bradshaw, 23, realised on Monday morning that he had been linked to the outbreak after a night out at Club Chemistry nine days earlier. “I’m less concerned about my own health than spreading [the infection] to other vulnerable people,” he said, noting his mother had recently undergone surgery. Many students fled in the night, with concerned parents picking them up. Aram, 22, a criminology and politics student, said: “A lot of my flatmates already left. Their parents picked them up at like one in the morning.”
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) confirmed the disease had spread to the university and three schools in the area. One victim was a year 13 student at Queen Elizabeth’s grammar school, named Juliette. Her classmate Sammy Wright described her as a “bright character, always very happy, kind”. The other victim, a university student, has not been named.
Students described social media posts as exacerbating the fear, with clips of people in white hazmat suits walking around campus. Ben Tostevin, a drama and theatre student, said he was surprised the campus remained open but supported the institutional response. The UKHSA has advised anyone with symptoms of meningitis, septicaemia or sepsis to call 999 or go to A&E.
