Simon Jones
Reporting from the University of Kent

People have started arriving for the clinic to get antibiotics at the University of Kent - even though it doesn’t open for another hour.

It reflects the ongoing concerns of students - and now we know just how deep that goes: around 1,300 doses were given out yesterday.

Today more clinics will be opened in Canterbury and Broadstairs.

These are aimed at people who went to a club, called Club Chemistry, on 5, 6 and 7 March.

The additional clinics don’t signify that new cases have arisen, but they do show the authorities are keen to get on top of this outbreak - just like the students here are too.

Let's get a little more from the UK Health Security Agency's Dr Gayatri Amirthalingam, who has been speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live.

"As serious and devastating as this current outbreak is, it’s very much contained in the local area in Canterbury and Kent, we’re not seeing this spread more widely," she says.

She adds that the disease doesn’t spread easily: "It really requires very close, prolonged contact or intimate contact such as kissing."

The UK Health Security Agency says its response to the MenB outbreak has been "very swift", after some raised questions about the speed of response.

Dr Gayatri Amirthalingam, from the agency, tells BBC Radio 5 Live the first cases were identified on Saturday.

Pressed on whether officials reacted quick enough, she says "absolutely".

She says the initial cases "were taken extremely seriously", with local public health teams immediately "identifying the closest contacts who would benefit from preventative antibiotics".

Dr Amirthalingam says the pace of this outbreak is “certainly unusual”, with several cases appearing in a short period of time.

Hugh Pym
Health editor

The UK Health Security Agency has confirmed that the strain of the disease identified in Kent is Meningitis B.

MenB is the most common cause of meningococcal meningitis in the UK, experts say.

Routine vaccination against Men B for babies and young children was rolled out from 2015, so the current generation of students and others in their late teens would not have been covered.

Children aged 13 or 14 are offered vaccination against other meningitis strains in a programme run through schools.

Meningitis is an infection of the protective membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord.

It can affect anyone but is most common in babies, young children, teenagers and young adults. It can be very serious if not treated quickly.

Bacterial meningitis is rarer but more serious than viral meningitis - officials have confirmed the strain in Kent is the group B bacteria.

It can lead to blood poisoning or sepsis, and can affect the brain.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) tells the BBC that the strain of meningitis behind the cases identified in Kent is group B - known as MenB.

We'll bring you more on this shortly.

Freya Scott-Turner
Live reporter

Image source, PA Media

A meningitis outbreak in Kent has claimed the lives of two young people, and put the community on high alert.

One of the dead has been named as 18-year-old Juliette, a Year 13 student. Her family say they are "beyond devastated and they have no words to express their loss".

A student at the University of Kent has also died.

The university has cancelled in-person exams this weeks and the student union has called off events. Hundreds of students and others queued at the campus on Monday to receive precautionary antibiotics.

A grammar school for boys is the third Kent school to confirm a meningitis case, after a school in Ashford said that one of its Year 13 students had been admitted to hospital.

According to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), 11 people are in hospital due to the Kent outbreak.

Meanwhile, the owner of nightclub Club Chemistry in Canterbury says that someone who'd been at the venue - likely between the 5 and 7 March - had a confirmed diagnosis of meningitis.

As a precaution, the NHS is urging people who visited the nightclub that weekend to come forward for antibiotics.

The UKHSA says it is "monitoring the situation closely", telling the university and the wider community to stay "alert to the signs and symptoms".

We're ending our live coverage here, but you can keep up-to-date with the latest on the meningitis outbreak in our news story.

Image source, PA Media

As we've been reporting, the NHS is urging people who visited the Club Chemistry nightclub in Canterbury between 5 and 7 March to get antibiotics, after the venue was linked to a confirmed meningitis case.

The club's owner Louise Jones-Roberts says more than 2,000 people would have visited the venue between 5 and 7 March.

"I wouldn't have opened this weekend if I'd known, but I didn't know," Jones-Roberts tells Press Association.

"I'm devastated for the families affected. It's so incredibly sad," she adds. "I just really hope people know the symptoms and no more lives are lost."

The club will remain close until further notice, she says.

Philippa Roxby
Health reporter

About 73% of 13-year-olds were vaccinated against meningitis (MenACWY vaccine) last year in England. Among 14-year-olds, uptake was 75%.

The figures dropped off during the pandemic and have risen again - but around a quarter of teenagers still aren't protected against a potentially very serious infection.

When young people and students are mixing and in close contact - in halls of residence, at parties and other social events, for example - the bacteria can spread more easily.

Uptake of the MenB vaccine doses in babies is higher - latest figures show 90% of children in England have had the jab.

It's not clear the particular strain of meningitis behind this Kent outbreak and health officials will be trying to pin that down quickly.

The vaccines are very effective and help protect against many different types of meningitis, but not all - which is why health experts say it's important to know the signs and symptoms even if you're vaccinated.

Echoing an update we received a little earlier from NHS Kent and Medway, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) says that anyone who visited the Canterbury nightclub Club Chemistry on March 5, 6 or 7 should "come forward for preventative antibiotic treatment as a precautionary measure".

The number of confirmed cases remains at 13, according to the update.

Trish Mannes, the UKHSA's regional deputy director for the south east, says that “investigations have identified that some cases visited Club Chemistry in Canterbury" on those three dates.

"It is important that anyone who visited the club between 5th and 7th March now comes forward," she says.

The UKHSA says it acted as soon as it was notified of a sudden rise in cases in the south east.

"UKHSA was notified of a cluster of cases late on Saturday. We acted immediately and communication to those at risk took place on Saturday evening and Sunday," a spokesperson says.

Nick Johnson
Reporting from Kent

The BBC has been given permission to share this picture of 18-year-old Juliette, a sixth form student who died after contracting meningitis.

Her father tells the BBC that the family are "beyond devastated and they have no words to express their loss."

Her family has requested her surname not be publicised.

Earlier, we heard from Amelia McIlroy, the headteacher at her school, who said Juliette "embraced everything the school had to offer and was genuinely caring".

Image source, Supplied

James Kelly
UGC Hub

Image source, Matt Woolford

Matt Woolford, 25, from Reading, suffered a life-threatening meningococcaemia infection when he was at university.

Following on from news of the Kent outbreak today, Woolford tells the BBC "more really needs to be done".

"From the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, I was sent back to my university halls prematurely, confused and still severely ill resulting in the UKHSA having to contact my flatmates," he explains.

"I was told that these outbreaks happen regularly at universities.

"I then asked about vaccines. Most people my age have their MenACWY vaccine. None have been given MenB [because of] cost effectiveness and so the NHS says they will only give this out to young children.

"That is simply not good enough, and more people will die the longer awareness isn’t raised, and people aren’t vaccinated."

Image source, PA Media

As we've been reporting, people have been queuing throughout the day at the University of Kent to collect antibiotics.

A mix of ages and young families with buggies have been among those lining up for medicine there, the Press Association reports.

Dan Turner brought his two children, aged one and two years old, and partner to get antibiotics after calling NHS advice line 111 on Monday afternoon.

The 40-year-old says his stepdaughter's sister had been rushed to hospital with a suspected case of meningitis and the family were told to get checked out.

"Better to be safe than sorry," he says.

Some waiting in line were seen wearing masks, carrying shopping bags, while others could be seen sharing vapes elsewhere, PA reported.

Image source, PA Media

NHS Kent and Medway says it is giving free antibiotics to people who visited a Canterbury nightclub on three particular days in March.

It says that more emergency antibiotics are available for "people who visited Club Chemistry on March 5, 6 and 7". This is the Canterbury nightclub that earlier said it was closing until it receives further advice from UKHSA.

In comments made earlier to the Press Association, the nightclub's owner Louise Jones-Roberts said that they had been "told somebody was in our club at the weekend who has since been diagnosed with meningitis".

As a precautionary measure, the antibiotic tablets are being offered to people who do not have symptoms and can be accessed at four temporary clinics, the NHS says.

People who live on the University of Kent campus in Canterbury are also eligible, as well as close household contacts of cases who have been identified by UKHSA or who self-identify as having contact with a confirmed case.

The NHS Kent and Medway website has more information on where the clinics are located, external and their opening times.

James Kelly
UGC Hub

Emily Smith, 49, is the mother of a 13-year-old at Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys in Canterbury - it earlier confirmed that a student in Year 13 has been admitted to hospital with meningitis.

"I'm concerned and feel awful for the families involved, it's terrible," she says.

She says her son was "very anxious going in, because obviously it was on the grapevine but school weren't in the position to confirm it, I assume."

"It is just a frightening time for everybody and I think it's the rapidity of it as well that's frightening."

We can now bring you some more images from the University of Kent.

These pictures, obtained by the BBC, show health professionals at the university in the immediate aftermath of the outbreak - transferring people to hospital and wearing protective clothing.

Norton Knatchbull School in Ashford has confirmed that one of its Year 13 students has meningitis. This follows an earlier update from the school, in which it said a pupil had been admitted to hospital with a suspected case.

"We have now been informed that the diagnosis has been confirmed, and the student is receiving appropriate hospital treatment," says a statement from the headteacher.

"Our thoughts are with them and their family at this difficult time."

The school adds that it is in close contact with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), which has confirmed that "the wider school community does not require any additional measures beyond being vigilant for symptoms".

"The school will continue to operate as normal unless UKHSA advises otherwise," it says.

Why is the MenB vaccine not given to teenagers in the UK?published at 17:36 GMT 16 March

17:36 GMT 16 March

published at 02:36

02:36

Philippa Roxby
Health reporter, BBC News

It's down to how effective that vaccine is seen to be in that age group.

Research suggests the MenB vaccine doesn't influence transmission of the infection from one person to another, it doesn't target against all the different B bacteria strains and doesn't protect for particularly long either.

For all those reasons, and despite campaigns by charities to have it introduced, UK vaccine experts have concluded that the MenB vaccine isn't cost effective on the NHS for adolescents.

Babies are offered the MenB vaccine and given three doses in the first year of life.

That's because young babies are more likely to get invasive infections more often than other age groups, and their bodies are less likely to be able to fight them off, experts say.

Teenagers are currently offered the MenACWY vaccine, which has reduced the number of young people getting ill from meningitis and spreading those bugs.

But uptake of that vaccine is still not where it was before the pandemic - about 73% of 13-year-olds were vaccinated last year in England. Among 14 year olds, uptake was 75%.

A grammar school for boys confirms one of its Year 13 students has been admitted to hospital with meningitis.

"Our thoughts are with him and his family during this difficult time, and we hope for a speedy recovery," the headmaster of the Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys says in a letter seen by the BBC.

He acknowledges the situation can be "worrying" but adds that the school will remain open tomorrow as the risk of contagion "is low".

Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys is the second school to confirm a case of meningitis after Queen Elizabeth's Grammar Faversham, whose student - identified as Juliette - died.

Earlier, Norton Knatchbull School in Ashford said one of its Year 13 pupils is currently in hospital with suspected meningitis. The University of Kent announced yesterday a 21-year-old student had died after becoming infected.

Malu Cursino
Live reporter

Isabel Kenny, a fourth year student at the University of Kent, recalls hearing about the meningitis outbreak on the news before emails from the university started coming in.

That's when her friends started texting in group chats, getting in touch with each other. "Everyone [was] getting quite nervous really," she tells the BBC.

The 21-year-old was notified she'd been in contact with someone who has meningitis, but she doesn't know who.

"It's a girl in my dance class, but we weren't told who it is, which I think is fair enough. It feels a bit weird not knowing who it is, it's a bit nerve-wracking, but I actually think it'd make me more nervous if I did know who it was. I'm wishing the best for her," Kenny explains.

As she was walking up to campus this morning to get her dose of antibiotics, Kenny saw several of her peers packed up and heading home.

"Everybody is going home ... I saw so many students with suitcases going towards the train station."

Asked if that changes her plans, Kenny says she'd prefer to wait things out before making a decision. "I'd rather just wait a few more days to make sure I don't have meningitis before going home to my family, because I don't want to make them sick."

Image source, Isabel Kenny