Back to News
Meningitis B Outbreak
Posted or Updated on 20 Mar 2026
If you have symptoms of Meningitis, you should call 999 immediately
(As at 08.00 20.03.2026)
Only those who were at the Chemistry club in Canterbury on March 5th-16th or their close household contacts; students normally resident on the University Campus; and some staff living or working in these halls of residence are being offered antibiotics and/or a Meningitis B vaccine. Sixth form or other year groups and education settings in Kent where there are confirmed or probable cases are also eligible. If you have not been contacted and have reason to believe that it may affect you, email: phe.sshpu@nhs.net.
There are 4 centres in Canterbury where these are being administered.
Gate Clinic, Kent and Canterbury Hospital, CT1 3NG;
Westgate Hall, CT1 2BT;
Carey Building, Broadstairs, CT10 2WA;
Senate Building at University of Kent, CT2 7NZ.
Meningitis B vaccines are only routinely given on the NHS to the following:
Those born after 01.07.2015 as part of the routine child immunisation programme – it consists of three doses.
The Meningitis B vaccine used offers direct protection against most, but not all, MenB strains causing disease in the UK.
There is another vaccine which protects against other less common strains of Meningitis – the Men ACWY vaccine, which is usually given to children at school when you are 13 or 14 years old. If you missed it at school, you can have it at your GP surgery up until the age of 25. It consists of a single dose.
If you are not part of the population who are affected by this outbreak and therefore not being offered antibiotics and/or a vaccination and you still feel that you still require some protection then you may be able to source a MenB vaccination privately, but currently the risk to the general population is extremely low and this is not recommended. You can’t get this from your GP Surgery.