Meningitis cases expected to rise amid ‘unusual outbreak,’ UK health chief says

A surge in meningitis cases tied to an outbreak in Kent, England, is expected, a senior health official warned, as investigators examine whether the bacteria has started spreading more readily.

Professor Robin May, chief scientific officer at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), said: “This is a very unusual outbreak.”

UKHSA announced five additional meningitis cases yesterday morning, lifting the number under investigation by health officials to 20.

Fresh figures due this morning are anticipated to push the total higher.

Describing the incident—linked to a Canterbury nightclub—as out of the ordinary, he added: “So typically, you would expect to see sporadic cases of meningitis, typically individual patients.

“Most days, actually, we would see one in the UK. This is obviously a much larger number.

“What is particularly remarkable about this case, and unexpected about this case, is the large number of cases all originating from what seems to be a single event.

“There are two possible reasons for that. One is that there might be something about the kind of behaviours that individual people are doing.

“The other possibility is the bacteria itself may have evolved to be better at transmitting.”

So far, 600 meningitis B vaccinations have been delivered on the University of Kent’s Canterbury campus after hundreds of students formed queues outside the campus sports centre.

Recipients must return for a second dose after at least four weeks, and the university said 6,500 courses of antibiotics have also been distributed as a precaution.

In total, about 5,000 campus-based students are eligible for vaccination and are being urged to come forward for immediate antibiotic protection and longer-term vaccine cover.

The vaccination drive follows the deaths of one school pupil and one university student, with 18 further cases under UKHSA investigation and some young people placed in induced comas.

Prof May said the bacteria that can cause meningitis may spread through sharing utensils, cups and vapes.

He said: “So this is a bacteria that is actually quite widespread.

“So a large number of us carry this, about 10% of people my age, slightly higher in younger people carry this bacteria at the back of their throat anyway, and obviously, the vast majority of us don’t have any problem with disease, but in some cases it can cause severe disease.

“And it is transmitted by this relatively close contact.

“So it’s transmitted by things like saliva and kissing in particular, but also sharing of utensils, sharing of cups or vapes or those kind of things.”

Prof May added: “Although it’s in the throat, it is not, for example, like Covid or flu. It’s not a respiratory disease in the sense of spreading very easily through the air.

“It does not survive very long on surfaces. So people do not need to be concerned about things like public transport, for instance, where you know potentially you might come into contact with somebody with that in your train carriage or your bus.

“But unless you’re in quite close contact for an extended period of time with them, you are not at risk from them.”

UKHSA yesterday issued an alert to the NHS across England on symptoms to watch for, while stressing this does not mean the outbreak is set to spread nationwide.

The alert noted the illness in the Kent cluster “has been severe with rapid deterioration” and advises clinicians to use infection-control precautions—such as face masks and other personal protective equipment (PPE)—before antibiotics are started.

It also calls on doctors to maintain a “high index of suspicion where a young person aged 16 to 30 attends with consistent signs or symptoms” of the infection.

Students who have left the university halls in Canterbury can obtain a menB vaccination from their GP, according to the Department of Health.

Six of the confirmed cases have been confirmed as the menB strain.

Canterbury Christ Church University, also in Kent, confirmed a meningitis case among its students yesterday, meaning confirmed or suspected cases span two universities and five schools.

UKHSA said the NHS has ample supplies of the menB vaccine, after some pharmacies reported difficulties sourcing doses for people seeking to pay privately.

All reported cases so far are linked to Kent, according to UKHSA.

Meanwhile in France, officials said a person hospitalised with meningitis and connected to the Kent outbreak is now in a “stable” condition.

The French Ministry of Health added that no other meningitis cases linked to the Kent outbreak have been reported in France.