Health officials are tackling a rapidly escalating meningitis B outbreak in Kent, with 15 confirmed cases requiring hospital treatment and two fatalities reported among teenagers and students
Kelly Williams Content Editor and Oliver Radcliffe Live News Reporter
21:28, 17 Mar 2026Updated 22:07, 17 Mar 2026
(Image: Ian Vogler / Daily Mirror)
A baby girl is fighting for her life with meningitis amid a serious outbreak in Kent that has already claimed two young lives.
Nine-month-old Nala-Rose Fletcher, from Folkestone, is being treated in the intensive care unit at Evelina London Children’s Hospital, with her parents at her bedside.
Her condition is stable, but her family says she faces upcoming operations that will be “life-changing” for her. It is understood that Nala-Rose, who is vaccinated, became unwell on March 4 – just days before a cluster of cases emerged in Canterbury.
However, her parents, Danielle Trott and Nick Fletcher, say they had not visited the city before their daughter became ill, and are still waiting to learn what strain she has caught.
They acknowledge they are only beginning to come to terms with what has happened. “Nothing can truly prepare you for the pain and fear that comes with what we’ve been living through, and are still living through,” they said through a fundraising page.
“There have been moments that have felt utterly overwhelming, and at times desperately lonely. But you – all of you – have completely blown us away,” reports the Daily Star.
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Students at the University of Kent lining up for antibiotics(Image: Ian Vogler / Daily Mirror)
“The kindness you’ve shown us, through your generosity and your words of support, has meant more than we can express.
“Nala-Rose is still very poorly and remains in intensive care. We already know she will be left with lasting difficulties for the rest of her life, and that’s something we’re only beginning to come to terms with.
“What your support does, more than anything, is remind us that we are not facing this alone. And right now, that means everything.
“Thank you, all of you, from the very bottom of our hearts.”
Nala-Rose’s condition comes as health authorities grapple with a rapidly spreading outbreak of meningococcal meningitis in Kent, with confirmed cases amongst teenagers and students in Canterbury and surrounding areas.
Thus far, 15 cases have been verified – all requiring hospital admission – with two deaths.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has been approached to clarify whether they are linking Nala-Rose’s condition to the wider outbreak but maintains it cannot discuss individual cases.
More than £3,000 has been collected to support her family through a JustGiving campaign set up by Dan Atkinson at Ramsgate-based Guildcrest Homes and its sister companies, The Coffee Club and Guildcrest Estates.
Juliette, 18, sadly died after contracting meningits
The appeal has been extensively circulated, with hundreds of people contributing and offering messages of encouragement.
In another post, Nala-Rose’s mum urged other parents to respond quickly if they notice symptoms.
She stated: “Please don’t hesitate if you think your child may have this. Awful, nasty disease and time is EVERYTHING!”
The tragic fatalities confirmed by the UKHSA include a University of Kent student and Juliette, a Year 13 pupil at Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School in Faversham. Public health investigators suspect several individuals who became unwell had visited Club Chemistry in Canterbury shortly before developing symptoms.
Over 2,000 people are thought to have attended the nightclub over three nights – 5, 6 and 7 March – triggering a large-scale operation to treat those potentially exposed.
Anyone who visited the venue on those dates is being urged to come forward for preventative antibiotics. The club has since closed “until further notice”.
The outbreak has also been linked to a house party in Whitstable, whilst cases have been identified at several schools and among university students. A targeted vaccination programme for students living in halls at the University of Kent is also due to begin within days.
A number of those who fell ill had visited Club Chemistry in Canterbury(Image: Getty Images)
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: “This is an unprecedented outbreak. It is also a rapidly developing situation.”
The UKHSA has confirmed the strain responsible for the outbreak is Meningitis B, known as MenB. Routine vaccination against MenB was introduced for babies in 2015, but many older teenagers and young adults will not have received it.
Despite concerns, officials say the overall risk to the wider public remains low and the outbreak is currently contained within Kent.
Warning signs of meningitis can include a high temperature, severe headache, stiff neck, vomiting, confusion, sensitivity to light and unusual rashes, as well as extreme sleepiness or difficulty waking. Health professionals emphasise that immediate medical attention must be sought if symptoms develop.
England’s deputy chief medical officer Dr Thomas Waite said: “This is by far the quickest-growing outbreak I’ve ever seen in my career, and I think probably any of us have seen of meningitis for a very long time.
“Whilst it remains an outbreak that is having its consequences in Kent, it is obviously of national significance.”
UKHSA chief executive Susan Hopkins said: “This looks like a super-spreader event, with ongoing spread within the halls of residents in the universities.
“There will have been some parties particularly around this, so there will have been lots of social mixing. I can’t yet say where the initial infection came from, how it’s got into this cohort, and why it’s created such an explosive amount of infections.
“I can say that in my 35 years working in medicine, in healthcare and hospitals, this is the most cases I’ve seen in a single weekend with this type of infection. It’s the explosive nature that is unprecedented here. The number of cases in such a short space of time.
“NHS were initially managing it as a major incident in the region but they have now increased that overlay to having a national-level oversight as well.”