Two people have died of meningitis in Kent: an eighteen year old year 13 student named as Juliette, and an unnamed 21-year-old. The outbreak has centred on a nightclub, Club Chemistry, and on a private party. Since news of the outbreak broke, the newspapers and television have been full of images of students queuing patiently for prophylactic antibiotics. Concerns have been raised that the UK Health Security Agency could have raised the alarm hours, or perhaps a day, earlier.

Some of the cases have been confirmed as meningitis B, a strain for which adolescents are not vaccinated. Infants are offered the vaccine at eight and 12 weeks and at one year, but protection wanes after about five years. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has previously judged that offering a booster in adolescence is not cost-effective.

Nothing diminishes the grief for the bereaved families, but the wider context is one of astonishing improvement. In developed countries, deaths from meningitis have declined by over 80 per cent in the past 40 years. Britain has pioneered childhood meningitis vaccines. Over the same period, starting from a better baseline, British deaths have declined by 70 per cent.

The worthwhile urge to improve care has to be thoughtful, not just urgent

The worthwhile urge to improve........

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