A baby girl is fighting for her life as a deadly meningitis outbreak in Kent grows, with mounting fears a ‘second wave’ of infections could spread across the country as students begin leaving for Easter.
Nala-Rose Fletcher, from Folkestone, is critically ill in hospital after contracting the same meningitis B strain linked to the Canterbury cluster – despite having been vaccinated.
While it is yet to be confirmed whether the nine-month-old’s case is directly connected, the timing has heightened alarm among health officials already bracing for further infections.
The outbreak, now labelled a national incident, has seen 15 confirmed cases – all requiring hospital treatment – and two deaths, including a 21-year-old female student at the University of Kent and 18-year-old Juliette Kenny from Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School in Faversham.
Authorities are increasingly concerned that the disease could spread beyond Canterbury as thousands of students travel home early for Easter, potentially carrying the infection during its incubation period, which can last up to 14 days.
At the centre of the outbreak is Club Chemistry – now widely seen as ‘ground zero’.
But new claims suggest the bug may have been circulating there earlier than first thought, with one student revealing she had been partying at the venue on March 4 into the early hours of March 5 before falling gravely ill.
That student, 21-year-old law undergraduate Annabelle Mackay, was left blind and unable to walk after contracting meningitis B following her birthday celebrations. She collapsed at her home in Canterbury as her condition rapidly worsened.
Nine-month-old Nala-Rose Fletcher is in intensive care at Evelina London Children’s Hospital after falling ill, with doctors warning she will face ‘life-changing’ surgeries
Annabelle Mackay (centre), a 21-year-old law undergraduate, was left blind and unable to walk after contracting meningitis B following her birthday celebrations
Juliette Kenny, 18, died on Saturday surrounded by her family after falling victim to meningitis
Unable to see, move or speak by the time she reached urgent care, Annabelle survived only because her housemates acted quickly – carrying her to a car after her mother, on the phone, realised something was dangerously wrong.
Doctors later confirmed the diagnosis, with Annabelle saying her body had already begun to shut down within hours, The Sun reports.
Her case has become a stark warning of how quickly the disease can strike and how vital early intervention is.
In response to the escalating crisis, all 5,000 students living in halls at the University of Kent have been urged to collect emergency antibiotics, with around 11,000 doses made available. A targeted vaccination programme is also being rolled out.
A single course of antibiotics is highly effective in preventing the contraction and spread of this disease in 90 per cent of cases.
There are four centres open in and around Canterbury, including the Gate Clinic at Kent and Canterbury Hospital, where hundreds of people were treated yesterday. A nurse at the clinic, which usually functions as a sexual health centre, said: ‘We have had hundreds of people here today.
‘We are treating anyone who has been up at the university working or who thinks they may have been exposed.’
In scenes reminiscent of the pandemic, visitors are handed masks as they arrive at another site. Westgate Hall, usually a community hall for salsa classes and bake sales, is now a make-shift clinic dishing out doses.
Scenes outside the University of Kent in Canterbury today as students queue for antibiotics
Queues outside the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak
Among those visiting was Ryan Neil, 23, who sought the antibiotics as a precaution after partying at Club Chemistry on March 5.
The Canterbury Christ Church student said: ‘I have not got any symptoms but I thought it would be better to be safe than sorry.’
Fellow student Megan Wood, 21, who was at the nightclub on the same night, said she was also worried about potentially contracting meningitis.
‘I thought I should be safe and take the antibiotics because who knows what we could have picked up at the club?’ she said.
Charlotte Taylor, 23, who studies Cognitive Psychology and Neuropsychology, said everyone at the University of Kent is frightened.
‘There’s so much mixed messaging going around campus at the moment and it’s not a nice place to be right now.
‘I didn’t go to the club but everyone at university is so connected I thought it would be better to come here and get the antibiotics.’
A spokesman for the university said: ‘We have contacted all students today to explain that, following advice from public health colleagues, students living in our on-campus university accommodation are being offered precautionary antibiotics.’
Initially, treatment was limited to those in specific accommodation blocks and anyone who had visited the nightclub.
Club Chemistry in Canterbury yesterday, which has been linked to the meningitis outbreak
Queues outside the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak
But as case numbers climbed, the were expanded to include all students in campus housing, as well as anyone who may have been exposed through social contact.
Efforts are also underway to trace more than 2,000 people who attended Club Chemistry during the period, while all 94 staff at the venue have already received antibiotics after one employee was hospitalised.
Across Canterbury, emergency clinics have been overwhelmed, with hundreds queuing for precautionary treatment at sites including Kent and Canterbury Hospital and Westgate Hall, where scenes have been likened to the Covid pandemic.
It comes as a fourth school in the county was put on alert due to a suspected case amid fears the outbreak, which has already claimed two young lives, could spread further.
Highworth Grammar School in Ashford is the latest to confirm a case after a Year 13 pupil was admitted to hospital with suspected meningitis.
Both Norton Knatchbull School, Ashford, and Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys, Canterbury, each have a student already in hospital with the infection.
Students on campus have described a climate of fear and confusion, with many opting to take antibiotics even without symptoms. One said the interconnected nature of university life meant ‘everyone feels at risk’.
With meningitis B killing around one in ten of those infected, health officials warn the situation could worsen in the coming days – particularly as people disperse across the UK.
They continue to stress that while antibiotics are highly effective at preventing infection, speed is critical – and anyone who may have been exposed should seek treatment immediately.
