Meningitis B confirmed as strain behind outbreak that has left two dead in Kent

Students queue for antibiotics outside a building at the University of Kent in Canterbury (PA)

Some cases of meningitis seen in Kent have been confirmed as meningitis B, health officials have said, as hundreds of people are being urged to get antibiotics to stem the spread of infection.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), which is investigating the outbreak that left two young people dead and others in hospital, told the Press Association it would confirm the strain seen in other cases “when we have the full results”.

Young people born before 2015 are not protected against meningitis B unless they have had the jab privately. It was introduced on the NHS for babies in 2015.

It comes as hundreds of people who visited Club Chemistry in Canterbury on March 5, 6 or 7 were told to come forward for preventative antibiotic treatment as a “precautionary measure”.