The meningitis outbreak that killed two people in Kent has now been declared a national incident.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and NHS declared the emergency due to its severity.
A case was reported in London on Tuesday, marking the first confirmed outside of Kent, where the outbreak originated.
The “unprecedented explosion,” health chiefs said, is the worst outbreak of meningitis they have seen in the UK.
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.”
Hundreds could be seen queueing on the campus of the University of Kent awaiting a batch of preventative antibiotics
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PAThere have been 15 confirmed cases so far, with 13 remaining in hospital.
Year 13 student Juliette, 18, has been named as one of the dead. Her family said they are “beyond devastated,” and they have “no words to express their loss”.
A baby in Kent is also critically ill with the disease.
Kent Online report that a nine-month-old baby from Folkestone, Kent, is being treated in intensive care at Evelina London Children’s Hospital.
She is confirmed to have the same Meningitis B strain.
The ramp up in classification by the UKHSA and NHS allows health services to mobilise staff and supply of drugs.
The University of Kent cancelled in-person exams this week, while the student union called off its events | GETTY
Health Secretary Wes Streeting announced on Tuesday a small targeted vaccine rollout in Kent, while the UKHSA continued to urge those who attended Club Chemistry on the weekend of March 5 and 7 to receive their preventive meningitis antibiotics.
Mr Streeting said the immunisation programme will target students living in University of Kent halls of residence in Canterbury to protect them from contracting meningitis B.
So far, at least four cases have been confirmed to be the menB strain. Only those under 10 will have been vaccinated against the strain under the NHS.
The MP for Ilford North said: “From 2015 the menB vaccine has been available on the NHS as part of routine childhood immunisations, but clearly most students would not be vaccinated.
“Given the severity of the situation, I can confirm to the House that we will begin a targeted vaccination programme for students living in halls of residence at the University of Kent in Canterbury, which will begin in the coming days.”
The Chemistry nightclub in Kent is linked to the outbreak | PA
The bacteria is currently undergoing whole genome sequencing in a laboratory to see if the spread is caused by a mutant strain of meningitis B and whether current vaccines will be effective.
Four schools in Kent have so far reported cases of meningitis, while it has been revealed that the French health ministry was actually one of the first to notify British health chiefs when a student fell ill in France after attending the University of Kent.
The University of Kent cancelled in-person exams this week, while the student union called off its events.
The location of the original outbreak has been scaled down to Club Chemistry, and has been attributed to individuals sharing vapes and close contact within the nightclub, though no blame has been put on the venue itself.
Louise Jones-Roberts, the owner of the nightclub, told GB News on Tuesday: “There is literally nothing we could have done.
“It’s passed person-to-person, they define it as close contact – it’s prolonged close contact. It’s kissing, it is sharing vapes, it could potentially be sharing drinks, but there has to be that prolonged exposure.
“It’s just really unfortunate. We’re a busy venue, a community venue, it’s a place where a lot of people congregate.”
The venue will remain closed until further notice.