University of Sheffield reassures students that the risk is low after two young people have died following an outbreak of a Meningitis strain.
One of the victims has been named as 18 year-old Juliette, a sixth form student from Faversham who died on Saturday, and the other is a currently unnamed 21 year-old student at the University of Kent.
Joseph Ennew, 21, a student at the University of Sheffield, said: “It’s pretty terrifying that things like this happen at schools and universities, especially as a student.
“It could happen to anyone, so I think everyone at the uni just needs to be checking for any signs or symptoms.”
Mr Ennew went to Northern General Hospital last night over fears he might have contracted meningitis, but was cleared after multiple blood tests.
There are a total of 15 cases of people being declared as seriously ill following the outbreak and have been hospitalised, with four of the cases confirmed as the MenB strain.
An email sent from vice-president of education Mary Vincent to university students said that ‘there are currently no reported cases’ and ‘the risk of an outbreak remains very low’.
There were an estimated 4,743 cases of meningitis in the UK in 2021 with 236 deaths, according to the Meningitis Research Foundation.
Evie Burnside, 18, a politics student at the University of Sheffield, from Tonbridge said: “This outbreak is especially scary because it feels so close to home, as a student and as someone coming from Kent.
“Hopefully the outbreak doesn’t spread to Sheffield but it’s still really important to be educated on the symptoms and act quickly.”
The UK Health Security Agency have issued a statement urging anyone who visited Club Chemistry in Canterbury between the 5th and 7th of March to come forward for preventative antibiotic treatment, stressing the importance of ‘early diagnosis’ as ‘vital’.
Common symptoms of meningitis include headaches, a stiff neck, sensitivity to light, and a rash that doesn’t pass when pressed to glass.
For more information about meningitis, visit the NHS website at Meningitis – NHS or the University of Sheffield website at https://sheffield.ac.uk/health-service/more-services/information-resources/meningitis.
