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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Anna Bawden and agency

Number of meningitis cases investigated in Kent rises to 20

Kent Meningitis UKHSA Wes Streeting Antibiotics Canterbury Disease UK Health Security Agency University of Kent
Students queuing for antibiotics outside a building at the University of Kent in Canterbury
Students queuing for antibiotics outside a building at the University of Kent in Canterbury. Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA

The number of meningitis infections linked to Kent continues to grow, with five confirmed new cases on Wednesday, in what experts have described as the quickest-growing outbreak of the disease they have seen.

The UK Health Security Agency said that as of 5pm on Tuesday there were 20 cases of invasive meningococcal disease, up from 15. Nine have been confirmed in the laboratory, while a further 11 are under investigation. Six are confirmed to be the meningitis B strain, also known as MenB, which is the most common form of invasive meningococcal disease.

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