Kent meningitis outbreak a cruel reminder young people most at risk

Meningitis is thankfully rare, but the outbreak in Kent is a cruel reminder that the disease is still with us, and that young people are most at risk.

Health authorities are yet to identify the exact strain that has killed two students - one a sixth-former in Canterbury, the other studying at the University of Kent - and left 11 others seriously ill. But we know we are dealing with the bacterial form of meningitis.

Thankfully, not as common as it once was, but no less devastating. Follow latest: Hundreds of masked Kent university students queue for antibiotics "There's been less and less disease thanks to the effectiveness of vaccines, which are now available on the NHS.