There have been no new cases of meningitis linked to an outbreak in Kent reported, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has said.
As of 12.30pm on Sunday, 20 cases had been confirmed and a further nine were under investigation. This was no change on the previous day, the UKHSA said in a statement on Monday morning.
On Sunday the health secretary, Wes Streeting, praised the “herculean efforts” to protect people. On Friday officials warned of the potential for “sporadic” household clusters to appear in other parts of the country.
After further testing of samples, the total number of cases dropped from 34 on Saturday.
East Kent Colleges (EKC) Group sent out a letter to all parents and carers informing them that a college student was being treated for a suspected case of meningitis on Friday, and published the letter on its website on Sunday.
Streeting offered his condolences to the families of the two students who have died in the outbreak and said his thoughts were with those in hospital “fighting this terrible disease”.
He said in a statement on Sunday: “It has been an incredibly difficult week for those affected and for those working on the frontline response to this outbreak. As we look ahead to another challenging week, I wanted to pay tribute to the herculean efforts of everyone who has worked tirelessly to care for those affected and keep people safe.”
Streeting thanked UKHSA officials, NHS teams, school, college and university staff and the “thousands of students, pupils and other members of the public who have so readily and responsibly come forward for antibiotics and vaccination”.
There continued to be queues around the county for the MenB vaccine or for antibiotics, although numbers in the lines had dropped considerably since the rollout began on Wednesday.
The two students who have died were 18-year-old Juliette Kenny, who was described by her family as “fit, healthy and strong” before her death, and an unnamed University of Kent student.
