On Monday morning, nine days after a night out at Club Chemistry, a nightclub in Canterbury, Joe Bradshaw realised he had been linked to the meningitis outbreak in Kent that has killed two people, a university student and a sixth-former.
He ran through the week in his mind, beginning to worry about those he had been in contact with.
“I’m less concerned about my own health than spreading [the infection] to other vulnerable people,” he said. “My mum’s just come out of surgery so her immune system is relatively suppressed.”
Bradshaw, 23, is one of the many young people in Canterbury shocked by news of the outbreak. Hundreds of students at the University of Kent spent the day queueing for antibiotics. All of their in-person exams have been moved online as authorities seek to bring the situation under control.
Students queue to pick up antibiotics on the University of Kent campus. Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA Media
Students described fear and panic spreading through their community as the term comes to an end. Many fled in the night, with concerned parents coming to pick them up.
In the queue for medicine on campus was Aram, 22, a criminology and politics student. He lives in Tyler Court, where students received an urgent message from the university warning them of potential contact with the infection.
“I’m like half a metre away from these people, so I was pretty nervous,” said Aram.
“A lot of my flatmates already left. Their parents picked them up at like one in the morning. Actually, I think I’ll be the only guy in that flat now that all my friends are gone.”
He went on to describe people running down the stairs with TVs and other belongings, packing them into their parents’ cars.
Anyone can catch meningitis, but young people, especially those in large social communities such as universities and colleges are especially susceptible.
In such a dense social environment, it’s easy for students to connect themselves to the spreading infection. One of Aram’s friends lives with someone who has been hospitalised with meningitis; another student is anxiously texting a friend from lacrosse whose flatmate has symptoms.
As of Monday evening, the disease was at the university and three schools in the area, with two people confirmed to have died.
Ben Tostevin, a drama and theatre student, said he was surprised the campus had remained open. Photograph: Isaaq Tomkins/The Guardian
One, a student at the university, had not been named. The other was a year 13 student at Queen Elizabeth’s grammar school named Juliette.
One of Juliette’s classmates, Sammy Wright, described her as a “bright character, always very happy, kind”.
“She was in our PE class, she was in our class right at the beginning of the week. It’s just a shock to hear what happened,” said Sammy.
Among the remaining university population, students were rallying together, and checking in frequently on each other.
Ben Tostevin, a drama and theatre student, was glad to see most of his friends in good health scattered throughout the medicine queue.
He lives in town, and, while generally supportive of the institutional response to the outbreak, had some concerns.
“I’m surprised the campus has remained open,” he said. “But it’s uni leadership doing what they think needs to be done.”
His friend Sofia Malanga described online posts as exacerbating the fear among students. “There’s a lot going around on social media that makes it more scary. The videos are terrifying.”
The pair described the framing on social media as “overegging certain things”, focusing on clips of people in white hazmat suits walking around the campus. Other students have reported seeing this in person.
The UKHSA has advised that anyone who thinks they, or someone they care for, could have meningitis, septicaemia or sepsis should call 999 or go to their nearest A&E.
