Unprecedented emergency measures are being rolled out to prevent a nationwide outbreak after officials confirmed meningitis B is behind a fatal cluster in Kent – a strain most teenagers and young adults are not routinely vaccinated against.
The deputy director of immunisation and vaccine-preventable diseases at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), Dr Gayatri Amirthalingam, said the outbreak was ‘very concerning’ – due to the number of people affected.
In addition, Meningitis B is widely considered the most dangerous form of the disease.
While a vaccine, given at the age of 13 or 14, covers four main groups of meningitis-causing bacteria, A, C, W and Y, it does not protect against MenB.
The MenB vaccine is only offered to babies, having been introduced in 2015. This means anyone born before then – including most current teenagers and students – will not have been vaccinated unless they paid privately, at a cost of more than £100.
So far, two deaths have been linked to the outbreak – Juliette Kenny, an 18-year-old A-level student at Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School in Faversham, and an unnamed University of Kent student.
Several others are being treated in hospital, with a boys’ grammar school becoming the third in Kent to confirm a case.
So what exactly is meningitis B, who is most at risk, and what are officials doing to prevent the spread of disease?
Juliette Kenny, 18, died on Saturday surrounded by her family after falling victim to meningitis
Club Chemistry in Canterbury yesterday, which has been linked to the meningitis outbreak
What is meningitis B – and why is it considered the deadliest strain?
MenB is now the most common cause of bacterial meningitis in the UK, accounting for more than 80 per cent of invasive cases.
It infects the protective membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord and can trigger life-threatening blood poisoning and brain inflammation – collectively known as meningococcal disease.
The illness often develops suddenly, and early diagnosis is critical.
‘The problem with meningococcal disease is that you can go from being relatively mild to on death’s door within a matter of a few hours,’ said Prof Paul Hunter, an infectious diseases expert at the University of East Anglia.
Part of the reason it is so dangerous is that group B is not a single strain, but a collection of many variants – making it harder to control.
On top of this, most people over the age of 11 are not protected unless they have been vaccinated privately. Risk is highest in babies, teenagers and young adults, particularly those starting university.
What are the early symptoms of MenB?
Early symptoms can be frustratingly vague – which is why doctors warn families not to wait for the ‘classic’ signs.
Like flu, it often begins with a sudden fever, headache, nausea, muscle aches and a general sense of feeling unwell.
Children and young people may become sensitive to light, confused or unusually drowsy, with difficulty waking.
In babies, signs can be harder to spot – including refusing feeds, irritability and a weak, high-pitched cry.
Because these symptoms overlap with common viral infections – or even a hangover – cases are sometimes missed in the crucial early hours.
A rash that does not fade when pressed is a well-known warning sign, but it is often late – and may not appear at all.
Who is most at risk – and how does it spread?
Babies under age of one, who doesn’t have fully functioning immune systems are the highest risk.
However teenagers and young adults are more likely to carry and pass on the bacteria, particularly when starting university and mixing with large numbers of new people.
Students queuing for antibiotics outside the University of Kent in Canterbury yesterday
In the general population around one in ten of us carry the bacteria harmlessly in the back of the throat without knowing it, but this rises to up to a third of young adults at university.
Transmission requires close contact – such as coughing, sneezing, kissing or sharing items like drinks or vapes. The current outbreak has been linked to students sharing vapes on a night out.
However Prof Hunter warned that it is not just children and young adults who are at risk of meningitis B infection.
‘People who are suffering from respiratory viruses, particularly influenza, are at an increased risk of bacterial infections, including meningococcal disease,’ he said.
‘This is because the flu virus damages the lining of the airways and weakens the immune system, allowing bacteria to invade and cause severe infections such as meningitis.
‘This is why, when there is a spike in flu cases, there can also be an increase in cases of meningococcal disease.
‘In fact, a significant proportion of influenza-related deaths are caused by secondary bacterial infections rather than the influenza virus itself.’
Britain’s six million smokers, whose habit weakens their lungs, are also at increased risk, he added. People who frequent bars and clubs, where close contact is the norm, are also more vulnerable, as they are simply more likely to be exposed.
In addition, gay men – referred to by public health officials as men who have sex with men, or MSM – may also be at increased risk because they are more likely to have multiple intimate partners.
The same goes for people with compromised immune systems due to other conditions.
Cancer, kidney or liver disease, diabetes, autoimmune disorders and transplants – which affect tens of millions of patients – are associated with up to a 40-fold increased risk.
HIV, which affects 100,000 people in the UK, is also associated with up to a 13-fold increased risk.
Prof Hunter added: ‘People without a working spleen, a condition known as asplenia, are also at higher risk because the spleen is an important part of the immune system. It helps filter the blood and plays a key role in defending against certain bacteria.’
Asplenia is rare, affecting around 12,000 people in the UK – most have had their spleen removed surgically after a car accident, sports injury or other trauma.
‘Without a functioning spleen, the body is less able to fight encapsulated bacteria such as meningococcus, which can lead to rapid, overwhelming and potentially fatal infections,’ he added.
How quickly can it spread – and have officials acted fast enough?
Meningococcal septicaemia is a notifiable disease, meaning suspected cases must be urgently reported to public health authorities.
However, it has been reported that some of the young people affected were admitted to hospital before wider alerts were issued.
One public health source told the BBC: ‘We have to ask if the measures being taken now to contain the spread and hand out preventative antibiotics should have started sooner.’
Dr Amirthalingam said there had been no delay, insisting ‘local teams acted very very quickly’ to follow up cases and offer antibiotics.
But Prof Hunter said: ‘When I used to do this work some years back, I think we would have gone public at the point that we informed local GPs that there was such a problem, which might well have been quicker.
‘It is critically important that you make that information very clear very soon.
‘If doctors know that there is a problem with meningococcal disease in the area, then they’re more likely to take those early symptoms seriously.’
Why aren’t the most at-risk groups routinely vaccinated?
Last year, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) concluded it was not cost-effective to offer a MenB booster to adolescents.
This is partly because the vaccine offers more limited and shorter-lived protection, and does not significantly reduce transmission.
Dr David Elliman, honorary associate professor in child health at University College London, said: ‘Part of the benefit of many vaccines is to stop people carrying the germ and passing it on to others.
‘The vaccines against the A, C, W and Y strains do this very well, which is in part why the diseases they cause are now very uncommon.
‘This is not true for the MenB vaccine, which has to be made in a different way. The MenB germ also varies and not all variants are prevented by the vaccine.
‘All these factors mean that, although the vaccine has been very useful, the benefits from the MenB vaccine are perhaps less than those from the MenACWY vaccines overall.’
However, uptake of existing vaccines is also a concern. Just 66.5 per cent of Year 9 pupils in the North West received the MenACWY jab in 2024–25, leaving many vulnerable.
Will the Government introduce a MenB booster for teenagers?
Meningitis charities are calling for a wider rollout, with Meningitis Now campaigning for an adolescent booster programme by 2030.
Helen Whately, Conservative MP for Faversham and Mid Kent, has urged ministers to consider a catch-up campaign.
She said: ‘One of the things the UKHSA will need to look at is if there is now a greater risk around this outbreak – and in future, should there be some kind of vaccination catch-up for that group.’
What happens next?
Health officials must now determine whether the current strain is covered by existing MenB vaccines.
Prof Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, said: ‘The first question on vaccination is whether this B strain is covered by the vaccine – as this isn’t always the case – and the UKHSA are working round the clock on this.
‘If it does match then B vaccines are great, but it takes time for the immune response to kick in after the jab.
‘So the absolute priority today is to ensure that those who have been exposed get antibiotics to stop them developing the disease or spreading the B germs to others.’
Dr Ben Kasstan-Dabush, expert in global health and development at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, added the outbreak should prompt schools and health services to ensure all adolescents receive the vaccines they are already eligible for.
The tragedies that show how quickly meningitis can strike
Two-year-old Leila Normington, from Yorkshire, died just one month after contracting meningitis
The recent tragedies in Kent have highlighted just how quickly meningitis can strike. But sadly, many families have suffered the heartbreak of losing a child to the disease in recent years.
Two-year-old Leila Normington, from Wetherby in Yorkshire, died just one month after contracting a rare form of pneumococcal meningitis.
She was initially treated at Harrogate District Hospital in June 2023 but returned for treatment one month later after developing a fever that lasted four days.
She was sent home on July 22 by medics after being diagnosed with an upper respiratory tract infection and, after suffering a catastrophic brain injury, died two days later.
An investigation found that staff at the hospital did not recognise Leila had contracted a second strain of meningitis ‘due to her clinical presentation and the rarity of the occurrence’, reports the BBC.
William Hand from South Carolina died just days after falling ill with meningitis
In the United States, 14-year-old William Hand from South Carolina died in June 2025, just days after falling ill with meningococcal disease, a fast-moving bacterial infection that can cause meningitis and blood poisoning.
The sporty teenager had woken in the early hours feeling unwell, but within hours the bacteria had overwhelmed his immune system.
His father later shared a tribute alongside a photo of the teen in sports gear, writing: ‘This is how I will always choose to remember Will.
‘Flowing hair, big smile and in sports attire.’
Five-year-old Jude Platts from Liverpool died 24 hours after being diagnosed with meningitis
In the UK, five-year-old Jude Platts from Liverpool died just 24 hours after being diagnosed with pneumococcal meningitis after his family initially believed he had a stomach bug.
The young boy began vomiting early one morning but had no fever or other obvious warning signs.
Later that evening he suffered a seizure and was rushed to hospital, where scans revealed a severe infection affecting his brain.
Doctors placed him in a medically induced coma, but the infection progressed so rapidly that he died surrounded by his family on New Year’s Eve.
Juliette Kenny, 18, from Whitstable, Kent died after falling victim to meningitis
Juliette Kenny was identified as the first victim of the meningitis B (menB) outbreak sweeping through Kent in 2026.
The outbreak, linked to the popular Canterbury nightclub Club Chemistry from March 5 to March 7, has claimed the life of sixth-form student Juliette and a 21-year-old University of Kent student who has not yet been named.
Juliette’s father said the family had been left ‘beyond devastated’ and ‘have no words to express their loss’.
Eleven other have been left seriously ill after contracting the infection, which is feared to have spread through vape sharing among youngsters.
