A meningitis case has been confirmed at a second Kent university, linked to an outbreak which is thought to have originated at a Canterbury nightclub
Canterbury Christ Church University says it continues to "monitor the case closely". At the nearby University of Kent, the Meningitis B jab is now being offered to 5,000 students as part of a targeted vaccine programme
There's a sense of relief among the long line of students that have turned out to receive their vaccination, our reporter at the university writes
Earlier, health officials said five new cases of the disease have been identified, taking the total number of confirmed and suspected cases to 20
Two people have died - a 21-year-old university student and a sixth form pupil
How worried should we be? Our health correspondent unpacks what we know - and don't
A student at the University of Kent tells the BBC there's "a lot of anxiety" on campus, while another describes the moment she first heard about the outbreak
Health Secretary Wes Streeting tells the BBC the risk of the disease spreading is low, "even if the disease itself is extremely serious" - what are the symptoms?
Simon Jones
Reporting from the University of Kent
Six hundred vaccines are available for students on the University of Kent campus today - with more tomorrow.
People will have to return in four weeks for a second dose.
So far, 6,500 people have been given antibiotics as a precaution.
Sara Smith
Reporter, BBC South East
Candice Skinner's daughter is being treated for meningitis at the William Harvey Hospital in Kent.
Tara, 20, is a student at Canterbury Christ Church and her mum has told BBC South East Today she is currently on the mend.
The family have been in Ashford today to receive antibiotics as a precaution.
Candice says when Tara, who had visited Club Chemistry, woke up on Thursday feeling unwell they thought she was developing flu symptoms.
"After that she started developing a red eye over the weekend", says Candice.
"On Monday, she was really, really ill, slumped over, no energy so we took her to hospital and they’ve tested her now.
"It’s been stressful but she seems to be on the mend now."
Here are the key symptoms of meningitis which can appear in any order.
We can bring you a bit more now from that statement issued by Canterbury Christ Church University in Kent, which has confirmed that one of its students has meningitis.
The UK Health Security Agency has advised "that the risk of transmission for a close contact within the same household (flatmate) is low, and risk of transmission for anyone else remains very low," it says.
The university says that it continues to "monitor the case closely and work with UKHSA".
The university campus "remains open, and core teaching, learning, and research activities will continue."
Canterbury Christ Church University in Kent has confirmed that one of its students has meningococcal disease.
In an update shared on its website, the university says that "the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has now confirmed one case of meningococcal disease for a CCCU student".
"This case is linked to the initial cluster in Club Chemistry on 5, 6 and 7 March," it adds.
The targeted vaccine rollout for students at the University of Kent - announced by the health secretary on Tuesday - is now underway.
Students in halls of residence on the Canterbury campus of the university are eligible for the MenB jab. These are some of the latest images coming in to us.
Image source, PA Media
Image source, PA Media
Image source, PA MediaWe've had some more detail from the University of Kent about the targeted rollout of the Meningitis B vaccine on campus.
The vaccine is being offered to "all students who reside in Canterbury campus halls of residence", says a letter sent to students by the university.
For students who can't receive the vaccine today, it will "continue to be available to eligible students all week".
"Arrangements are currently being developed" to ensure eligible students who have returned home already can receive the vaccine too, it says.
The Meningitis B vaccine comes in two doses and "arrangements will be made for students to receive their second course of treatment on the campus", the letter adds.
Vaccination is an "additional precautionary measure" on top of the antibiotics that have been handed out this week, it says.
Nick Triggle
Health correspondent
The vaccine rollout has begun - but it's worth bearing in mind what the aim of this is.
The vaccine is about providing students with longer-term protection if the type of Meningitis B that has caused this outbreak continues to circulate in the coming weeks and months.
When you have a cluster of invasive cases you can sometimes see a tail - where people pass it on and future cases develop.
Many people carry the bacteria that causes meningitis in their throats and noses and for most it does not cause illness.
It will take around four weeks for full immunity to build - and a second dose will be needed.
What is more, Meningitis B is actually essentially a collection of different strains. The vaccine does not work against them all, although it does provide good protection against serious illness for the ones it does match.
At the moment, the health authorities do not know exactly which version of Meningitis B is causing the outbreak - so this is to some extent a bit of a punt.
That is why they are still advising people to come forward for antibiotics. They are the short-term solution which will help stop the infection in its tracks.
Image source, Gareth Fuller/PA Wire
Image source, Gareth Fuller/PA Wire
Image source, Gareth Fuller/PA Wire
Image source, PAOliver Contreras, 22, is the first student to have been given a Meningitis B vaccine at the University of Kent's Canterbury campus.
He tells the PA news agency he is "pretty happy" to have received the vaccine, adding that his dad had wanted him to get one before heading home this weekend.
However, the postgraduate student says he was not happy about the communication surrounding the outbreak, adding that he thinks the university let people know "a bit too late".
"All these social events went ahead on Sunday, and I was at one of them, and I kind of wish I'd got more information before all that," he says.
The University of Kent has said in a statement that the jab rollout was "part of our ongoing commitment to offer a swift response and reassurance to support Kent students at this difficult time".
Alongside this, it added that the university will "continue to offer precautionary antibiotics to staff and students that may be affected".
Simon Jones
Reporting from the University of Kent
Scores of students have begun arriving at the university sports hall for jabs, and there is a sense of relief among those here that the programme has begun.
People must show a letter and their student ID to prove they live in the university halls of residence, and therefore qualify to receive the jab.
The rollout of a Meningitis B vaccine to 5,000 students at the University of Kent's campus in Canterbury has begun.
Vaccinations are taking place at the Sports Centre on campus.
Vaccines will be offered to all students living on campus from today, the university says, adding that eligible students living in accommodation on campus have been informed and have started to arrive.
A vaccination programme is expected to start in Kent today.
These students and staff members have been telling the BBC why they are going to take up the vaccine.
Gabriela Pomeroy
Live reporter
Image source, Gabriella PitchGabriella Pitch says most of her friends have taken the antibiotics as they have a connection to one of the students who is in hospital
Gabriella Pitch is a fourth-year student studying film and management at the University of Kent.
“When I first heard about the outbreak on the news I freaked out," she says.
"Then I went into the kitchen of our student house and told my friends and they all freaked out.”
Gabriella says she knows of one of the Kent University students who is in hospital with meningitis, adding that "most of my friends have taken the antibiotics".
There was a sense of "trauma" among the students, she says, and it reminded them of the Covid days.
“People were not going out on campus, it looked deserted. People were wearing face masks and everybody was looking scared", she says.
Gabriella's exam was supposed to be at the university campus on Tuesday, but it was cancelled and moved online. She left campus and went home to London where she got her antibiotics.
Image source, PA MediaStudents queuing for antibiotics at the University of Kent in Canterbury
The UK Health Security Agency says students at the University of Kent will be able to access antibiotics as a precautionary measure., external
If they have travelled home to another part of the country, they will be able to get antibiotics from their local GP.
A targeted vaccination programme is available to students who are residents of the Canterbury Campus halls of residence at the University of Kent.
The agency says up to 5,000 students will be contacted and offered the vaccine.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting told the BBC that it was "okay" that students will have gone home already, but he said that if they were at Club Chemistry on the 5, 6, or 7 March, they need to seek antibiotics - which they can do in their hometown.
James Gallagher
Health and science correspondent
There are different types of bacterial meningitis caused by different strains of bacteria.
Meningitis B, or MenB, is now the most common in the UK - accounting for over 80% of invasive infections - since vaccination made other forms much rarer.
Group B bacteria are not a single strain, but encompass many different forms of meningococcal B bacteria.
There is a vaccine given to babies that protects against the most common, but not all, group B bacteria.
Since it was introduced in 2015, MenB infections have been reduced by around 75% in those immunised.
However, anyone over the age of 11 has not been protected unless their parents paid for the vaccine privately.
The risk from MenB is highest in very young children and older teenagers and young adults - often linked to going to university.
However, a vaccination campaign for teenagers was not considered to be cost-effective. This is because the vaccine is expensive and does not stop you spreading the infection, but rather stops you getting seriously ill.
Vaccines can be used to help control an outbreak, but health officials will need to know if available vaccines match the specific type of group B that is spreading.
Phil Harrison
BBC Radio Kent
There’s a steady stream of students, often accompanied by their parents, at the Vicarage Lane Clinic in Ashford town centre, where free antibiotics are available.
The clinic began offering them this morning and has a large stock - students at local schools were advised to take them. It is open on a no appointment basis until 4pm today.
One of those attending the clinic today is Agatha Burton, who has come with her dad.
“I’ve come here as a precaution as I was out in Canterbury on the dates my school told us needed checking," she explains.
She says that a friend of hers is in hospital with meningitis. "But he is doing fine. He was moved from Medway to London though.”
“All of my friends are talking about it because there’s people from Ashford who have meningitis, it’s scary," she adds.
“The antibiotics were easy to take, it’s just a pill to swallow.”
Another young person queuing at the clinic for antibiotics is Mohammed Sheik, a media student at Ashford College.
People are "worried" about meningitis, he tells me.
"I know of some friends who have become ill. I’m glad the antibiotics are available but I won’t be socialising as much just in case.”
Nick Triggle
Health correspondent
The meningitis outbreak has been described as an unprecedented and explosive event.
But at the same time we are being told it’s not like Covid and there’s low risk of it spreading nationwide - so how do we reconcile those two things?
It’s true this outbreak is highly unusual. You don’t normally get such a concentration of cases all at one time.
When cases occur in clusters, it's often limited to only three or four cases. So to have 20, seemingly linked, is hardly ever seen.
Meningitis does not spread super easily. Sitting next to someone on a bus is not considered a risk, for example. It normally requires very close contact involving the exchange of saliva - such as kissing or sharing drinks or vapes.
What is more, many of us already have the bacteria that causes it in the back of our throats and in our noses – and it doesn’t cause a problem.
Only in rare cases does it lead to invasive meningitis, involving brain inflammation and blood poisoning - there are only around 300 to 400 of those cases every year.
It’s why experts in the field continue to say the risk, even to people in Kent, is very small.
But the unanswered question, of course, is why this has happened.
It could just be completely random or a freak event with a particular set of unique circumstances. Or, and this is very much worst-case scenario, it could have mutated.
While the health authorities cannot rule that out – they are carrying out tests to check – their working assumption is it hasn’t.
Image source, House of CommonsIn the House of Commons, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer started this week's Prime Minister's Questions by expressing his "deepest condolences" to the families and friends of the two young people who have died following the meningitis outbreak in Kent.
He says "this will be a deeply difficult time" for the loved ones of those are now seriously ill, and adds that health experts are working to identify close contacts of those affected.
The prime minister calls on anyone who attended Canterbury nightclub Club Chemistry on 5, 6 and 7 March "to come forward please and receive antibiotics."
Simon Jones
Reporting from the University of Kent
There is a strange atmosphere again today on the university campus - it’s a bit like a ghost town.
There are very few students here, apart from people coming to pick up antibiotics, wearing masks. It feels like the Covid era.
The university says it’s doing all it can to support its students.
One who does remain on site is Kwatng. He tells me: "It’s really quiet. I haven’t been out since Sunday. I’ve been locked in my room. This is my first time going out."
Many students have left the site and headed home. This should be exam season, a stressful time already. But people here are feeling stressed here for very different reasons.
Image source, PA MediaJames Gallagher
Health and science correspondent
This meningitis outbreak is unusual because of the large number of cases occurring in such a short period of time.
The big unknown is why it's happened.
Answers are not obvious. Meningitis B is the most common type in the UK, students go to clubs up and down the country - nothing is overtly unusual.
We know people regularly catch Meningitis B bacteria and they usually live harmlessly in the nose. But in rare cases the bacteria can invade the body and cause meningitis.
So has there been an exceptional amount of spread of the bacteria or has it become more likely to cause invasive disease?
There is speculation about vaping - could sharing a vape in groups accelerate spread or could vaping itself making it easier for meningitis bacteria to invade the body.
But it still asks the question what could cause such an explosive outbreak as vaping is not new or rare.
Is there something different about the meningitis bacteria this time? Is there some unusual environmental or behavioural factor - we know smoking increases the risk of invasive disease - that is different this time.
There are so many questions. We're still waiting for answers.