{"id":334902,"date":"2026-03-18T01:33:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T01:33:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/334902\/"},"modified":"2026-03-18T01:33:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T01:33:13","slug":"health-chief-warns-of-meningitis-super-spreader-events-as-outbreak-declared-national-incident","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/334902\/","title":{"rendered":"Health chief warns of meningitis ‘super-spreader events’ as outbreak declared national incident"},"content":{"rendered":"

She added that, in her 35 years working in medicine, it was the most cases she had seen in a single weekend<\/p>\n

\"Staff<\/p>\n

Staff and students, some wearing face masks, queue to receive antibiotics at the University of Kent in Canterbury after an outbreak of meningitis caused the deaths of two people.<\/p>\n

Picture:
\nGetty
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

The chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has called the meningitis outbreak in Kent a “super-spreader event”.<\/p>\n

The health chief, Susan Hopkins, said: “This looks like a super-spreader event, with ongoing spread within the halls of residents in the universities.<\/p>\n

“There will have been some parties particularly around this, so there will have been lots of social mixing.<\/p>\n

“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.<\/p>\n

“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.”<\/p>\n

Read more: Meningitis strain behind deadly Kent outbreak identified as officials fear vape sharing behind rapid spread<\/a><\/p>\n

Read more: What is meningitis and what causes it? Everything we know following deadly outbreak at University of Kent<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Warminster,<\/p>\n

Pharmacies are experiencing a surge in bookings for meningitis vaccines .<\/p>\n

Picture:
\nAlamy
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

The health chief added: “It’s the explosive nature that is unprecedented here. The number of cases in such a short space of time.<\/p>\n

“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.”<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, pharmacies are experiencing a surge in bookings for meningitis vaccines as people try to get jabs privately, amid a fatal outbreak in Kent.<\/p>\n

So far two people have died, 11 are in hospital, and a total of 15 UK cases have been identified so far.<\/p>\n

It comes after the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) confirmed that some cases in the Kent outbreak are meningitis B. \t<\/p>\n

Superdrug told the Press Association bookings for its service are 65 times higher than a week ago. \t<\/p>\n

\"Hundreds<\/p>\n

Hundreds of staff and students, some wearing face masks, queue to receive antibiotics at the University of Kent in Canterbury.<\/p>\n

Picture:
\nGetty
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

Health experts warned of “unequal access” to protection based on the ability to pay.<\/p>\n

In the coming days, officials will launch a small vaccination programme for students who live at Canterbury Campus Halls of Residence at the University of Kent.<\/p>\n

A jab for menB was introduced for babies as part of the routine childhood immunisation programme in 2015. \tBut the majority of young people born before 2015 are not protected, unless they have had the jab privately. \t<\/p>\n

A number of pharmacies offer the menB vaccine, including Superdrug, where it is available for children from the age of two months and adults aged up to 50. \t<\/p>\n

A course of two to three doses is recommended, priced at \u00a3110 per dose.<\/p>\n

A-level student, Juliette, whose parents requested that her surname not be reported, was confirmed to be one of those who died.<\/p>\n

The 18-year-old pupil at a Faversham school was described as “happy and caring” by her bereaved parents.<\/p>\n

A 21-year-old student from the University of Kent was also killed by the disease but has not yet been publicly identified.<\/p>\n

A number of those who have fallen ill have been placed into medically induced comas, LBC understands.<\/p>\n

\"Tributes<\/p>\n

Tributes have poured in for a \u201chappy and caring\u201d Kent schoolgirl who died in a recent outbreak of meningitis as she is pictured for the first time.<\/p>\n

Picture:
\nFamily Handout<\/p>\n

What are meningitis symptoms?<\/p>\n

Symptoms of meningitis and sepsis can include:<\/p>\n

high temperaturecold hands and feetvomitingconfusionmuscle and joint painpale, mottled or blotchy skinspots or a rashheadachestiff neckaversion to bright lightsbeing very sleepy and seizures<\/p>\n

Symptoms can appear in any order and some may not appear at all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"She added that, in her 35 years working in medicine, it was the most cases she had seen…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":334903,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[134,527,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-334902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=334902"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334902\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/334903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=334902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=334902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=334902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}