On Monday morning, nine days after a night of partying at Club Chemistry, a Canterbury nightclub, Joe Bradshaw realized he had been linked to the meningitis outbreak that killed two people, a college student and a sixth-grade student, in the city.
He mentally reviewed the week and began to worry about those he had been in contact with.
“I’m less worried about my own health than spreading (the infection) to other vulnerable people,” he said. “My mother just came out of surgery, so her immune system is relatively depressed.”
Bradshaw, 23, is one of many young people in the cathedral city shocked by news of the outbreak. Hundreds of students at the University of Kent spent the day queuing for antibiotics, with all their in-person exams moved online as authorities seek to bring the situation under control.
Students described fear and panic spreading through their community as the quarter comes to an end. Many fled during the night and their worried parents came to pick them up.
In line to receive medicine on campus was Aram, 22, a criminology and politics student. He lives in Tyler Court, where students received an urgent message from the university warning them of possible contact with the infection.
“I’m like two feet away from these people, so I was pretty nervous,” Aram said.
“A lot of my roommates are already gone. Their parents picked them up at like one in the morning. Actually, I think I’ll be the only kid on that floor now that all my friends are gone.” said.
He went on to describe people running downstairs with televisions and other belongings, stuffing them into their parents’ cars.
Anyone can contract meningitis, but young people, especially those who belong to large social communities such as universities and colleges, are especially susceptible..
In such a dense social environment, it is easy for students to connect with the spreading infection; One of Aram’s friends lives with someone who has been hospitalized with meningitis; Another student anxiously texts a lacrosse friend whose roommate has symptoms.
As of Monday afternoon, the disease was spreading through the university and three schools in the area and two people had been confirmed dead.
One of them, a student at the university, has not been identified. The other was a year 13 student at Queen Elizabeth High School, called Juliette.
One of Juliette’s classmates, Sammy Wright, described her as a “brilliant character, always very happy and kind.”
“She was in our PE class, she was in our class right at the beginning of the week. It’s just a shock to hear what happened.” Sammy said.
Among the rest of the university population, students are frequently gathering and checking on each other.
Ben Tostevin, a drama and theater student, was happy to see most of his friends in good health spread out in the medicine line.
He lives in the city and, although he generally supports the institutional response to the outbreak, he has some concerns:
“I’m surprised the campus has stayed open,” Ben says. “But it is the uni leaders who do what they believe needs to be done”
Her friend Sofia Malanga described the online posts as exacerbating fear among students. “There are a lot of things on social media that make it even scarier. The videos are terrifying.”
The pair described the framing on social media as “exaggerating certain things,” focusing on clips of people in white hazmat suits walking around campus. Other students have reported seeing this in person.
UKHSA has advised that anyone who believes they or someone they care for may have meningitis, septicemia or sepsis should call 999 or go to the nearest emergency department.
