Thursday briefing: The largest cluster of cases in a generation – what’s behind the meningitis B outbreak?
In today’s newsletter: After a spate of infections linked to a nightclub in Kent, some parents and experts are questioning the UK’s vaccination regime
It is every parent’s worst nightmare. University students enjoying themselves at a nightclub, only to fall ill a few days later with a potentially deadly illness. So far, two young people have died and more are seriously unwell in hospital after a meningitis outbreak in Kent, which appears to have started at Club Chemistry in Canterbury in early March. Health authorities have launched a major response: 30,000 people have been given antibiotics and up to 5,000 University of Kent students will receive a meningitis B vaccine, the strain that is believed to be behind the outbreak.
The health secretary, Wes Streeting, has urged calm, explaining that the risk of transmission is low, urging students to keep going to school and insisting that people do not need to seek private vaccinations. But that has not stopped a rush for jabs, causing a national shortage. The high street pharmacies Boots and Superdrug say they have seen a major spike in bookings, with some locations running out of stock.
To better understand the outbreak, I spoke with Prof Andrew Preston, an expert on the disease and a professor of microbial pathogenicity at the University of Bath. But first, the headlines.
Five big stories
Middle East | Israel struck Iran’s giant South Pars gasfield on Wednesday, marking a major escalation of the war, hours after Israeli forces killed the regime’s intelligence minister and launched some of the most intense airstrikes in Beirut for decades.
Reform UK | Nigel Farage called for the release of Sean “Diddy” Combs and commended the efforts to free a former Honduran president jailed in the US for drug trafficking. The remarks were made on the personalised video platform Cameo.
Assisted dying | Senior ministers believe Keir Starmer will not intervene to give the assisted dying bill further time in parliament as he is wary of opening up new divisions among Labour MPs.
Media | The former Google executive Matt Brittin is expected to be named as the BBC’s next director general within days, with the corporation’s board meeting this week for a final discussion about the appointment.
Green party | A government led by the Green party would not set targets for GDP growth but would instead focus on people’s mental health, social cohesion and community welfare, Zack Polanski has said in a major speech to set out his plans for the economy.
In depth: It seems incredibly scary – but meningitis is still rare in the UK
So far, there have been 20 confirmed meningitis infections linked to the outbreak in Kent. England recorded a total of 378 cases between July 2024 and June 2025, according to the most recent publicly available statistics. Health experts say that the current outbreak is the largest cluster of cases in a generation, likely the product of a super-spreading event. Like his colleagues, Preston says he has not seen an outbreak like this before. Partly, he says, there is a sense that this has come out of nowhere.
The disease, which infects the protective lining of the brain and spinal cord, can lead to amputations, epilepsy, learning difficulties and hearing loss. And yet, it gives little warning of its arrival. “It’s utterly scary. You can’t spot someone who is carrying the meningitis-causing bacterium,” says Preston. And because this outbreak has largely affected young people, many of whom have seen a sudden and rapid deterioration in their symptoms, and it can feel even more frightening, he says. “It can strike people we don’t expect to die from an infectious disease, like university students,” says Preston. “They start off with mild symptoms that could be just another respiratory infection, and within hours, they’re in intensive care fighting for their life.”
But despite the current outbreak, Preston points out that meningitis remains a rare disease in the UK. The bacteria that cause the illness are typically spread by close and prolonged contact, such as kissing, and sharing drinks or vapes. And there has been a highly effective vaccine rollout for many of the bacterial strains that cause the illness, which means we have good reasons to believe that infection rates will remain at low levels.
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A different strand of meningitis
The last meningitis immunisation programme for year 9 students targeted meningitis A, C, W and Y with incredible results: 88% of year 9 students in England were successfully vaccinated before the pandemic. It was so successful that these strains now count for less than 20% of cases in England.
So the majority of meningitis cases now are caused by a different strain: meningitis B, which is believed to be the cause of the current outbreak, and was accounted for nearly 83% (313 of 378) of cases in England in 2024-25.
Immunisation against meningitis B began among babies in September 2015 – leaving a gap in vaccination and questions about exposure for those people.
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Is widespread vaccination necessary?
Preston says that the tragic outbreak will inevitably lead to a national conversation about whether meningitis B vaccines should be rolled out more widely. Organisations such as the Meningitis Now campaign group have been lobbying for a wider programme of immunisation, particularly for vulnerable groups. But at the moment, it is only offered to infants on the NHS, with private jabs available for everyone else at about £110 per dose, with two doses required per course.
“I suspect that we are now going to see a large uptake of privately purchased meningitis B vaccines for those that can afford it. They might end up going on an affordability basis. Obviously, I would understand if a parent says, ‘Right, I’ve got children in years 11, 12 and 13 starting to socialise a lot or head off to uni, and I want to protect them.’ But that would be a really unpleasant situation,” he says, adding. “Protection being limited to only those that could afford it would be wrong.”
Preston cautions against the rush for private vaccines, explaining that he does not know of solid data on their effectiveness in older age groups or how long protection lasts. The current programme is designed to protect infants, he says, and the MenB jabs take a while to become effective.
Of course, this begs the question of whether the NHS should fund a widespread vaccinations programme – Preston is not sure. He makes the point that any national rollout under the NHS will be made on a cost-benefit basis. Considering that cases currently number a few hundred each year and kill around 10% of those infected and vaccinating a whole population could cost tens of millions of pounds, it that may not be the best use of limited funding that could be used on other life-saving treatments with broader reach.
“You have to look at how much the disease costs the NHS and society as a whole, and whether the saving would justify the expense. You might vaccinate hundreds of thousands of children to prevent a handful of cases. That’s the cold light of day of the cost-benefit analysis,” Preston says.
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We may never fully understand the reasons behind this breakout
Preston says there is so much we still do not know about the disease and how the bacteria that cause it are spread, warning that we may never fully understand the reasons behind the outbreak in Kent.
“We still don’t really know the factors that trigger meningitis,” says Preston, explaining that many people have the illness-causing bacteria in their upper airways naturally. “It is quite feasible that if you have a weakened respiratory tract lining, you’re going to be more susceptible. A viral infection that damages your mucosal lining might do that. Anything that lowers your immunity with persistent stress,” he says.
“Obviously, smoking levels have dropped, but vaping has really taken off,” says Preston.
Dr Tom Nutt, the chief executive of Meningitis Now, believes we have already seen enough. On Tuesday, the group reiterated its call for an expansion of meningitis B vaccinations.
“Many thousands of teenagers and young adults are unvaccinated and unprotected against this form of the disease. Currently, the MenB vaccine is only available to teenagers and young adults privately through high street and supermarket pharmacies, hence the vast majority of this age group are unvaccinated,” the group said in a statement.
“There are gaps in the NHS immunisation schedule, particularly around MenB. It is devastating, cruel, life-changing – and preventable.”
What else we’ve been reading
“The woman filmed without her consent sees none of that money” is just one of the depressing sentences in this piece looking at the revenue-making potential of “creepshots in motion” AKA social media nightlife videos that focus on young women. Martin
Phoebe Weston and the Guardian’s visualisation’s team have produced a stunning article on insect migrations, documenting how butterflies cross oceans and moths use the stars to make their way around Earth. Patrick
This a really interesting Substack post from Cassie Werber about how rewriting her second novel after receiving her editor’s notes needed, for her, to be a visceral project of physically committing things to paper. Martin
In response to its aggressive American neighbour, Canada is seeking to build up its Arctic territories. Selena Ross reports from Ottawa about its plans. Patrick
I grew up reading 2000AD and, by that measure, it should all be jetpacks, flying cars and droids by now. However, it does seem like London genuinely is on the verge of getting self-driving cabs. Steve Rose investigates. Martin
Sport
Football | Liverpool comfortably overturned their 1-0 first-leg deficit with a 4-0 home win over Galatasaray to set up a quarter-final with PSG. Meanwhile, two goals from Xavi Simons and another from Randal Kolo Muani gave Spurs a 3-2 win against Atlético Madrid, but the Spanish side won 7-5 on aggregate. Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha both scored twice as Barcelona won 7-2 against Newcastle (8-3 agg) to seal a place in the Champions League last eight.
Football | The president of the Confederation of African Football has been accused of allowing Morocco to “dictate its law” after Senegal were stripped of their African Cup of Nations title.
Basketball | The WNBA and its players’ union reached an agreement in principle on a new collective bargaining agreement, with some players expected to make more than $1m a year.
The front pages
“‘A dangerous escalation’: Israel strikes world’s largest gasfield,” is the splash on the Guardian on Thursday. “Energy costs climb as Iran strike hits huge gas plant in Gulf,” says the i paper. “British military to help US form plan to reopen Strait,” has the Times. “Iran wages ‘full scale economic war’ on the West’ is the lead story over at the Mail.
“Starmer signals migrant U-turn,” is the splash at the Telegraph. “New row over weaker migrant plan,” says the Express. “Brit cops’ sex crime review of Epstein files,” is the splash at the Mirror. “Fed signals bid to cut rates on track despite oil price surge,” has the FT. The Metro: “We warned of meningitis outbreak hell.” Finally the Sun with “Broke, deaf Glitter ‘on last legs.’”
Today in Focus
Charlotte Nichols MP on her rape trial ordeal
Standing up in parliament last week, Charlotte Nichols MP waived her right to anonymity as a complainant of sexual offences. “I care profoundly about rape victims facing intolerable delays for their day in court,” she said, in a debate about jury trials. The MP for Warrington North shares her experience as a complainant in a rape trial where the man she accused was acquitted.
Cartoon of the day | Ben Jennings
The Upside
A bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all bad
Australian scientists have built what they say is the world’s first working prototype of a quantum battery – a breakthrough that could one day transform how we store and use energy. Unlike conventional batteries, which slow down as they scale up, these have a “really peculiar property where the larger they are, the less time they take to charge,” said lead researcher Dr James Quach of CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency. The prototype can complete a full cycle, he added: “You charge it, you store energy, and you can discharge it.”
While still early stage, and only storing a small amount of energy for nanoseconds, experts say it shows that the quantum battery is “more than an idea, it’s now a working prototype”, perhaps pointing towards ultra-fast, wireless charging in the future.
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Bored at work?
And finally, the Guardian’s puzzles are here to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow.