Britain’s health minister on Tuesday described a deadly outbreak of meningitis linked to a nightclub as “unprecedented” after two students died and 13 people were hospitalized.
The number of confirmed cases has risen to 15 in what Health Minister Wes Streeting told Parliament in a sudden “rapidly developing situation”.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has reported two deaths—a 21-year-old university student and an 18-year-old school student—in Kent, southeast England.
The outbreak is linked to Canterbury City’s Club Chemistry, a three-storey venue popular with students.
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The Health Security Agency said it had “notified of 15 cases”, including deaths, compared to 13 previously reported.
Four cases were diagnosed with meningitis B, a bacterial strain that is rarer and more deadly than the viral type, it said.
According to the National Health Service, meningitis B causes death in one in 10 cases.
Meningitis is an infection that affects the protective membranes around the brain and spinal cord and is most common in young children, teenagers and young adults.
It can be spread through close contact, “prolonged kissing or sharing vapes and drinks,” Streeting said.
The focus of the public health measures was on the University of Kent, which has around 18,000 students, some of whom were hospitalized with meningitis.
The university held a clinic to administer antibiotics on Tuesday as students lined up for treatment. Streeting announced a vaccination program for students living in university halls of residence.
The minister said the case involving a man in France who attended the University of Kent was reported by French authorities on Saturday, without giving further details.
The UKHSA on Tuesday urged anyone who went to a nightclub in Canterbury between March 5 and 7 to get prophylactic antibiotics.
The health security agency has faced criticism for its delay in notifying the public of the outbreak.
It announced the deaths on Sunday, two days after the cases were first reported.
The agency has taken “urgent action” to identify and inform close contacts of those infected, UKHSA deputy head Gayatri Amrithalingam said.
“I don’t believe there has been any delay in terms of public health response,” he said.
Club Chemistry said on Instagram that one of its staff was being treated for meningitis and was closed as a precaution.
(With FRANCE 24 AFP)
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