Two young people are dead and at least 11 more are fighting for their lives as Kent scrambles to contain a meningitis outbreak, with fury mounting over health authorities’ decision to withhold the news for more than a day.

The victims include a sixth-form pupil at a Faversham grammar school, known only as Juliette, and a student aged 21 enrolled at the University of Kent. Her father said the family was “beyond devastated” and had “no words to express their loss.” A third patient is understood to be in a medically induced coma.

Canterbury nightclub at the centre

Ground zero for the outbreak appears to be Club Chemistry, where a run of nights between March 5 and 7 is believed to have seeded the infections. The Canterbury venue draws crowds of up to 1,600 across its three floors, and has become the focus of an emergency response that has seen four walk-in antibiotic clinics opened across the county.

Laboratory work is ongoing to establish whether a previously unknown strain is responsible for the unusually aggressive spread. Until that analysis is complete, no bespoke vaccine can be produced according to reports.

Prof Andrew Preston, professor of microbial pathogenicity at the University of Bath, said: “An outbreak of this size and speed is very unusual, and of great concern.

“It is important to characterise the cause of the outbreak. A sudden change in disease pattern could indicate something like a new strain with different behaviours. It will be important to ascertain the vaccination status of those affected.”

Disease spreads beyond the city

Confirmed cases have now emerged at schools in both Ashford and Whitstable, and officials are privately bracing for news that the disease has reached other parts of the country entirely.

That fear is inseparable from the controversy over timing. The Telegraph reported that by Friday, UKHSA had intelligence pointing to a cluster of infections — yet the agency held back its public warning until Sunday night. In the intervening period, students circulated freely at social events across the weekend, then boarded trains and cars to spend Mothering Sunday with their families, unaware they may have been contagious.

Every member of staff and all 16,000 students at the University of Kent have been contacted with guidance. Those established as having mixed closely with a confirmed case are being recalled for precautionary treatment, with the agency clear that waiting for symptoms to develop before coming forward is not an option.

Anyone experiencing a combination of sudden fever, a crushing headache, nausea and a rash that stays put when a tumbler is pressed flat against the skin should seek help without delay.

‘What did they know?’

The failure to act sooner has reportedly left some families reeling. A man identifying himself only as Henk revealed his teenage son had spent Saturday night at a party in Whitstable with around 40 other young people — after the UKHSA had privately registered the cluster but before it had said a word publicly. Two boys from that same gathering are now in hospital, one of them in a coma.

“For us, it would have been helpful if we knew it on Friday, as my son went to that party on Saturday. The question is, what did they know?” Henk is reported to have said.

His son, a Year 12 pupil at Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys in Canterbury, told the Telegraph: “The difficulty is the symptoms are similar to that of a cold, so that’s why everyone is on their toes. I’m worried about finding out too late.”

Military history student Chris Mallet, 20, said in the report: “That information should have been shared earlier. Rumours were already afloat on Sunday.”

‘Didn’t learn from the pandemic’

A former health official laid the blame squarely on institutional culture, telling reporters the UKHSA had not “learned from the pandemic.”

He said: “They will have focused too much on discussing the science of the disease and not given much thought to how real people actually behave. It probably didn’t occur to them that hundreds of students were flocking home last weekend to see family for Mother’s Day. As a result, they didn’t act quickly enough.”

Prof Paul Hunter, professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia, said the bar for intervention had been cleared long before the agency moved.

He told The Telegraph: “When you have a single case, it would normally be escalated up. When you have two related cases, that should be enough to act. It surprises me that it got to this [13 cases including two deaths] before this. It does seem worrying.

“We used to say disasters always arrive on a Friday evening and there can be a tendency to avoid taking some steps over the weekend because you know that people aren’t always available. But when it’s important enough, you have to act.”

An associate professor of cellular microbiology at the University of Reading, Dr Simon Clarke, pointed out that Saturday partygoers who subsequently tested positive would almost certainly have been contagious at the time — meaning an earlier intervention “could have meant kids or families went into isolation instead of mixing with Granny on Mother’s Day.”

He added: “It’s the teenagers, over-10s, who’ve never had it … are the ones at risk. We think of it as a children’s disease, but it does kill grown-ups.”

UKHSA defends itself

Facing a barrage of criticism, the agency issued a statement on Monday night disputing the timeline being put to it.

“UKHSA was notified of a cluster of cases late on Saturday. We acted immediately and communication to those at risk took place on Saturday evening and Sunday,” a spokesman said.

Trish Mannes, the agency’s regional deputy director for the South East, added: “Our investigations have identified that some cases visited Club Chemistry in Canterbury and it is important that anyone who visited the club between 5th and 7th March now comes forward for preventative antibiotic treatment as a precaution.

“If you think you may have symptoms of meningitis, don’t hesitate to seek medical help by contacting your GP or calling NHS 111.”

The Express contacted the UKHSA press office for further comment.