Nightclub attendees urged to take antibiotics amid Kent meningitis outbreak

Club Chemistry owners estimate that 2,000 people visited the venue from March 5 - 7 when the outbreak is thought to have started

Attendees of a nightclub in Canterbury are being urged to take antibiotics after it was linked to an outbreak of meningitis in Kent. 

Two people have died as a result of contracting meningitis since March 13, including a University of Kent student and a year 13 pupil in Faversham. 13 other cases of the disease have been confirmed so far, all of whom requiring hospitalisation.

According to ITV News, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is calling on anyone who visited Club Chemistry on March 5, 6 or 7 to come forward for a course of preventative antibiotic treatment as a "precautionary measure". The club's owner, Louise Jones-Roberts, estimates that over 2,000 people visited the venue during this time frame.

“Our investigations have identified that some cases visited Club Chemistry in Canterbury and it is important that anyone who visited the club between March 5 and March 7 now comes forward for preventative antibiotic treatment as a precaution, as well as those offered antibiotics at the university – these students are being contacted directly through the university,” says Trish Mannes, UKHSA regional deputy director for the South East.

Jones-Roberts said that she has managed to contact 90 out of 95 members of staff who were present at the club, and urged them to seek treatment, confirming to BBC News that a member of staff has "since been diagnosed with meningitis," with two more in A&E with suspected cases.

Regarding the venue's ability to trace attendees, Jones-Roberts said: "We have an ID scanner but that is more of a security measure. It takes pictures of some driving licences, ID cards and so on."

Experts believe a rare strain of the disease, Meningitis B or MenB, is behind the outbreak. Babies have been offered MenB vaccines since 2015; the current generation of teenagers and students have only been immunised against meningococcal groups A, C, W and Y. 

UK health officials have not offered a nationwide roll-out of the MenB vaccine as of yet, though immunisations have been made available privately.

Due to the severity of the outbreak in Kent, a small-scale vaccination programme will offer students at Canterbury Campus Halls of Residence at the University of Kent the jab in the coming days.

People who attended Club Chemistry can collect antibiotics from the Gate Clinic at Kent and Canterbury Hospital, Westgate Hall on Westgate Hall Road in Canterbury, Thanet Hub at the Carey Building in Margate, and the Senate building at the University of Kent. Anyone who has shown symptoms of meningitis and septicaemia is being urged to go to A&E immediately or dial 999.

Megan Townsend is Mixmag's Deputy Editor, follow her on X 

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