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News · 18 March 2026

Kent meningitis outbreak treated as national incident after deaths

Kent meningitis outbreak treated as national incident after deaths

Unsplash / Maxim Tolchinskiy

Health officials have declared a rapidly spreading meningitis outbreak in Kent a national incident following the deaths of two students. The UK Health Security Agency has recorded fifteen cases requiring hospital admission, with numbers expected to rise. Thousands of university students in Canterbury are being offered vaccines and antibiotics after experts linked the infections to a local nightclub. Scientists are currently investigating whether a mutant strain of the disease is responsible for the unprecedented surge in cases.

Reported by Sky News · How we write briefs

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