Kent cancels in-person exams after two die in meningitis outbreak

The University of Kent has postponed some of its exams and moved others online after a meningitis outbreak hit the institution.

Two students in Canterbury – one at the university and another who attended the nearby Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School – have died following an outbreak of the disease, which causes the protective tissue around the brain to become inflamed.

It is understood that 11 other young people are seriously ill in hospital. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has confirmed several of them are students from the university.

The UKHSA has alerted those known to have had close contact with the infected and advised them to secure antibiotics as soon as possible. It has also contacted more than 30,000 people in the Canterbury area to inform them of the outbreak. 

The outbreak struck during the university’s exam week and the institution has confirmed that no in-person assessments will take place, with them either being moved online or postponed.

The local University and College Union (UCU) said that flexibility has been given to staff about working from home but noted that this will be easier for academic staff than for professional services colleagues and will be “inevitably uneven across the board”.

“Contact tracing is in effect, and antibiotics are being dispensed from the senate building on campus,” it added. 

A spokesperson for Kent said that it is currently assessment week at the university, meaning there is limited teaching occurring, and it will be providing further details about alternative exam arrangements to students shortly.

The university’s acting vice-chancellor and president, Georgina Randsley de Moura, told students in a letter on 15 March that she was “deeply saddened” to hear of the deaths.

“This is devastating news, and our thoughts are with the student’s family, friends and all those who knew them. We are also aware that there are some of our community in hospital, who are also in our thoughts,” she writes.

Reports from the Independent show long queues of students waiting on the university campus to receive antibiotics amid the outbreak. It says a local nightclub popular with students has also been contacted by officials to try to trace people who may be affected.

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”.

He noted that vaccine uptake for meningitis in adolescents stands at only about 73 per cent, “so there are a lot of unvaccinated students given the size of the student cohort”.

Keith Neal, a retired professor of the epidemiology of infectious disease at the University of Nottingham, said: “I dealt with many university cases and a few community outbreaks in the past when meningitis was more common. This current outbreak is unusual.”

He added: “Risk to those in the Kent area is low, although this is a community outbreak so there is a small risk I suspect in the older teenage and student groups. Under 5s are most at risk to becoming seriously unwell with meningitis but teenagers and students are at a higher risk due to social mixing.”

juliette.rowsell@timeshighereducation.com