UK meningitis outbreak cases rise to 27

Students wearing face masks queue up to get vaccinated at the University of Kent in Canterbury, south-east England on March 18, 2026, following an outbreak of meningitis. [AFP]

The number of meningitis cases being probed by UK authorities has risen to 27, health officials said Thursday, following an unprecedented deadly outbreak centred on a university.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said in a statement: "15 laboratory cases are confirmed and 12 notifications remain under investigation, bringing the total to 27".

Two people have died since the epidemic came to light at the weekend, centred on the University of Kent in southeastern Canterbury and a local nightclub popular with students.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has led urgent calls for young people who visited the nightclub on the weekend of the outbreak to come forward, adding health experts were working to identify close contacts of those who were ill.

Speaking in parliament on Tuesday, he asked "anyone who attended Club Chemistry on March, 5, 6th or 7th to come forward, please, to receive antibiotics".

The university has rolled out a targeted vaccination programme for meningitis B -- a deadly bacterial strain -- for some 5,000 students. Hundreds of students queued at the campus on Wednesday to get the jab.

The number of cases being probed by UK authorities has risen since Tuesday from 15 to 27, authorities confirmed on Thursday, amid fears the disease could spread as students head home for the Easter vacation.

French authorities also reported one case involving a person in France, who had attended the University of Kent.

Cases have also been confirmed in students at four schools in Kent, as well as one student at a higher education institution in London, the UK health authorities said.

The two deaths in the outbreak have been identified as an 18-year-old schoolgirl and 21-year-old University of Kent student.

Meningitis is a potentially deadly infection which can lead to sepsis if it affects the protective membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord.

It is most common in young children, teenagers and young adults.

Initial symptoms of meningitis include headache, fever, drowsiness and a stiff neck -- but those are symptoms of different illnesses and can hamper prompt diagnosis.

It can progress rapidly, with another sign often being a rash, and is spread through prolonged close contact, including kissing or the sharing of vapes or drinks.

At least nine of the confirmed cases are of group B meningococcal disease, according to the UKHSA.

The bacterial strain is rarer and deadlier than the viral type.

Doctors nationwide have been told to prescribe antibiotics to anyone attending their surgeries who visited Club Chemistry between March 5-7 and to University of Kent students "if they have been asked to seek preventative treatment".