Urgent Alert: Thousands of Nightclub Goers Urged to Seek Meningitis Prevention After Third School Confirms Outbreak

The UK Health Security Agency has issued an urgent call for individuals who visited a Canterbury nightclub to seek antibiotics due to a meningitis outbreak. This advisory specifically targets those who were at Club Chemistry on March 5, 6, or 7, recommending antibiotics as a precautionary measure.

In addition to nightclub-goers, the agency has extended its advice to the University of Kent community, reaching out to approximately 16,000 staff and students. Antibiotics are being made available to those within the university who may have been exposed and require them.

The urgency of this advisory stems from the tragic loss of a University of Kent student and a Year 13 pupil named Juliette from a Faversham school, both of whom succumbed to this meningitis outbreak. Furthermore, the situation has left 11 others seriously ill, heightening the need for immediate preventive action.

In response to the outbreak, Club Chemistry has temporarily shut its doors. The club’s owner, Louise Jones-Roberts, confirmed that the UK Health Security Agency reached out after a weekend attendee was diagnosed with meningitis, prompting the closure and subsequent health warnings.

Club Chemistry has closed its doors following the outbreak, with its owner Louise Jones-Roberts saying the venue had been contacted by the UKHSA after one of its attendees at the weekend was diagnosed with meningitis.

Norton Knatchbull School in Ashford also confirmed that one of its Year 13 students has meningitis and is now ‘receiving appropriate hospital treatment’

The school had earlier warned parents about the potential diagnosis, saying it was taking ‘precautionary steps in line with public health guidance.’

A Year 13 pupil from the Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys has also been admitted to hospital with meningitis.

The school’s headmaster revealed the boy’s diagnosis earlier today, saying: ‘Our thoughts are with him and his family during this difficult time, and we hope for a speedy recovery.’

Students queue at the University of Kent in Canterbury today amid the meningitis outbreak

Club Chemistry in Canterbury which has been linked to the meningitis outbreak

Amelia McIlroy, head teacher at Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School, revealed one of its ‘much loved students in Year 13’ had died of meningitis. 

She said: ‘We are all absolutely devastated. Our love and thoughts are with their family and friends. Our priority now is the safety, well-being and support of all members of our school community at this terribly sad time.

‘We will be working with UKHSA to ensure that all appropriate actions are taken to protect our students and staff.’

She added: ‘If your child feels unwell – particularly with vomiting, purple-bluish bruise-type markings, unexplained high temperature or has cold hands and feet – you should seek immediate medical attention for them.’

Casey Marlow, 19, is another victim of the meningitis outbreak. She was rushed to hospital a few days after she and her friends visited a Canterbury nightclub to celebrate her birthday.

Casey’s mother Emma Marlow, 38, spoke to the Daily Mail today from her daughter’s bedside in an isolation ward at William Harvey Hospital in Ashford.

She gave permission for this website to use the shocking photograph of her daughter, who appears weak and exhausted after being diagnosed with meningitis.

Mrs Marlow, a custody detention officer from Ashford, explained that Casey began to feel ill a few days after the night out and her condition quickly deteriorated.

Casey Marlow, 19, was rushed to hospital a few days after her and her friends spent the evening at a nightclub thought to be at the centre of the deadly outbreak of meningitis

Casey’s mother Emma Marlow said her daughter should make a full recovery with antibiotics

Mrs Marlow told the Daily Mail: ‘Casey went to the nightclub on Friday, March 6 and a few days later said she had a sore throat, but at first we didn’t think anything of it. 

Then on Saturday she pulled up outside my house and called me said she felt awful, she had a raging temperature, a stiff neck and a terrible headache.

‘She looked really pale and we just went to the hospital where she has been ever since. She’s in isolation but she’s getting a bit of colour back and is getting a lot of mummy care.’

Casey, who works at a local Five Guys burger restaurant, told her mother she had ‘felt rough’ during the week after her nightclub visit but put it down to a ‘lurgy’.

Mrs Marlow added: ‘We just didn’t think it was anything serious, just one of those bugs that goes around. She said she had no energy and just felt so exhausted but the Saturday she was taken in she had such a raging temperature and looked awful.

‘You just don’t think something like this will happen to you or one of your family.’

Mrs Marlow revealed that Casey, who should make a full recovery with antibiotics, was at Club Chemistry in Canterbury with another girl and two boys.

Two other girls who attended the event on Thursday were sharing vapes with each other, with one now in hospital after being rushed to A&E on Saturday night.

Keeleigh Goodwin, 21, who lives in a house-share in Canterbury, has been diagnosed wtih meningitis B and is currently in hospital, where she is expected to stay for at least a week.

Keeleigh Goodwin, 21, has been diagnosed with meningitis after attending an event at Club Chemistry on Thursday

Keeleigh, who lives in a house-share in Canterbury, has been diagnosed wtih meningitis B and is currently in hospital

Meningitis is spread through close contact such as kissing, and microbiology experts today confirmed the Canterbury cases are of the serious bacterial form of the disease.

Eleven people have been left seriously ill, most of whom are also believed to be university students. 

Infectious disease experts believe the outbreak is ‘unusual’ and may be linked to a combination of lower vaccination rates since the Covid pandemic and a ‘new strain with different behaviours’.

The vaccination ACWY-135 is received by teenagers in England between the ages of 13 and 14, in Year 9. Experts say vaccination rates among students are at 73 per cent. 

More than 30,000 students and staff at the campus have been alerted by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), warning them to stay vigilant against symptoms. The university has now postponed some in-person exams and moved others online. 

This is a breaking news story. More to follow.