Symptoms of meningitis include a high fever, being sick and a severe and worsening headache, but can also cause life-threatening sepsis.
Other characteristic symptoms include a rash which does not fade when a glass is rolled over it.
Trish Mannes, UKHSA regional deputy director for the South East, said students can be at risk of missing symptoms due to being “easily confused with other illnesses such as a bad cold, flu or even a hangover”.
She added: “Students and staff will understandably be feeling worried about the risk of further cases; however, we would like to reassure them that close contacts of cases have been given antibiotics as a precautionary measure.”
Anyone becoming unwell with symptoms of meningitis and septicaemia is urged to go to their closest A&E department or call 999.
Meningitis can affect anyone but is most common in babies, young children, teenagers and young adults.
Canterbury MP Rosie Duffield said in a statement on X that the deaths were “really tragic” and she was “thinking very much” of those close to them.