{"id":27210,"date":"2026-03-17T12:39:28","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T12:39:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bmj-chicken.bmj.com\/thebmj\/the-bmj-article\/meningitis-fatal-outbreak-in-kent-is-less-targeted-strain-b-officials-confirm\/"},"modified":"2026-03-18T15:57:54","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T15:57:54","slug":"meningitis-fatal-outbreak-in-kent-is-less-targeted-strain-b-officials-confirm","status":"publish","type":"the-bmj-article","link":"https:\/\/bmj-chicken.bmj.com\/thebmj\/the-bmj-article\/meningitis-fatal-outbreak-in-kent-is-less-targeted-strain-b-officials-confirm\/","title":{"rendered":"Meningitis: Fatal outbreak in Kent is less targeted strain B, officials confirm"},"featured_media":0,"template":"","categories":[],"tags":[],"content_type":[32],"editorial_panel":[],"channel_page":[43],"class_list":["post-27210","the-bmj-article","type-the-bmj-article","status-publish","hentry","article-type-news","channel-page-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"meta_box":{"the_bmj_article-url":"\/content\/392\/bmj.s516","the_bmj_article-description":"A meningitis outbreak in Kent that has left two young people dead and 11 others in hospital has been confirmed as the bacterial strain B of the disease","the_bmj_article-the_bmj_article_image":[{"width":150,"height":150,"file":"2026\/03\/People_queue_antibiotics_meninghitis_kent_3E1TCPM-copy.jpg","filesize":132345,"sizes":{"medium":{"file":"People_queue_antibiotics_meninghitis_kent_3E1TCPM-copy-300x194.jpg","width":300,"height":194,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","filesize":34785,"url":"https:\/\/bmj-chicken.bmj.com\/thebmj\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/03\/People_queue_antibiotics_meninghitis_kent_3E1TCPM-copy-300x194.jpg"},"thumbnail":{"file":"People_queue_antibiotics_meninghitis_kent_3E1TCPM-copy-150x150.jpg","width":150,"height":150,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","filesize":23375,"url":"https:\/\/bmj-chicken.bmj.com\/thebmj\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/03\/People_queue_antibiotics_meninghitis_kent_3E1TCPM-copy-150x150.jpg"}},"image_meta":{"aperture":"0","credit":"Alamy Stock Photo","camera":"","caption":"3E1TCPM Students queuing for antibiotics outside a building at the University of Kent in Canterbury. Three schools have confirmed cases of meningitis after an outbreak killed two students and others were admitted to hospital. People who visited Club Chemistry in Canterbury, Kent, on March 5, 6 or 7 have been urged to get antibiotics. Picture date: Tuesday March 17, 2026.","created_timestamp":"1773705600","copyright":"Credit: PA Images \/ Alamy Stock Photo","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"Students queuing for antibiotics outside a building at the University of Kent in Canterbury. Three schools have confirmed cases of meningitis after an outbreak killed two students and others were admitted to hospital. People who visited Club Chemistry in","orientation":"1","keywords":["Canterbury","meningitis","and","septicaemia","outbreak","PA2026","HEALTH","Meningitis"]},"ID":"27208","name":"People_queue_antibiotics_meninghitis_kent_3E1TCPM-copy.jpg","path":"\/dom34810\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/03\/People_queue_antibiotics_meninghitis_kent_3E1TCPM-copy.jpg","url":"https:\/\/bmj-chicken.bmj.com\/thebmj\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/03\/People_queue_antibiotics_meninghitis_kent_3E1TCPM-copy-150x150.jpg","full_url":"https:\/\/bmj-chicken.bmj.com\/thebmj\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/03\/People_queue_antibiotics_meninghitis_kent_3E1TCPM-copy.jpg","title":"Students queuing for antibiotics outside a building at the University of Kent in Canterbury. Three schools have confirmed cases of meningitis after an outbreak killed two students and others were admitted to hospital. People who visited Club Chemistry in","caption":"3E1TCPM Students queuing for antibiotics outside a building at the University of Kent in Canterbury. Three schools have confirmed cases of meningitis after an outbreak killed two students and others were admitted to hospital. People who visited Club Chemistry in Canterbury, Kent, on March 5, 6 or 7 have been urged to get antibiotics. Picture date: Tuesday March 17, 2026.","description":"","alt":"Students queuing for antibiotics outside a building at the University of Kent in Canterbury","srcset":false}],"the_bmj_article-related_articles":[{"article_type":"News","related_article_title":"Meningitis in Kent: Two young people dead and 11 seriously ill in outbreak","related_article_url":"https:\/\/www.bmj.com\/content\/392\/bmj.s503"}],"the_bmj_article-journal_name":""},"head_tags":[{"tag":"title","content":"Meningitis: Fatal outbreak in Kent is less targeted strain B, officials confirm | The BMJ"},{"tag":"meta","attributes":{"name":"robots","content":"max-image-preview:large"}},{"tag":"link","attributes":{"rel":"canonical","href":"https:\/\/bmj-chicken.bmj.com\/thebmj\/the-bmj-article\/meningitis-fatal-outbreak-in-kent-is-less-targeted-strain-b-officials-confirm\/"}},{"tag":"meta","attributes":{"name":"generator","content":"All in One SEO (AIOSEO) 4.9.7.2"}},{"tag":"meta","attributes":{"property":"og:locale","content":"en_GB"}},{"tag":"meta","attributes":{"property":"og:site_name","content":"The BMJ | The BMJ: leading general medical journal. Research. Education. Comment"}},{"tag":"meta","attributes":{"property":"og:type","content":"article"}},{"tag":"meta","attributes":{"property":"og:title","content":"Meningitis: Fatal outbreak in Kent is less targeted strain B, officials confirm | The BMJ"}},{"tag":"meta","attributes":{"property":"og:url","content":"https:\/\/bmj-chicken.bmj.com\/thebmj\/the-bmj-article\/meningitis-fatal-outbreak-in-kent-is-less-targeted-strain-b-officials-confirm\/"}},{"tag":"meta","attributes":{"property":"article:published_time","content":"2026-03-17T12:39:28+00:00"}},{"tag":"meta","attributes":{"property":"article:modified_time","content":"2026-03-18T15:57:54+00:00"}},{"tag":"meta","attributes":{"name":"twitter:card","content":"summary"}},{"tag":"meta","attributes":{"name":"twitter:title","content":"Meningitis: Fatal outbreak in Kent is less targeted strain B, officials confirm | The BMJ"}},{"tag":"link","attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"application\/rss+xml","title":"The BMJ \u00bb Feed","href":"https:\/\/bmj-chicken.bmj.com\/thebmj\/feed\/"}},{"tag":"link","attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"application\/rss+xml","title":"The BMJ \u00bb Comments Feed","href":"https:\/\/bmj-chicken.bmj.com\/thebmj\/comments\/feed\/"}},{"tag":"link","attributes":{"rel":"alternate","title":"oEmbed (JSON)","type":"application\/json+oembed","href":"https:\/\/bmj-chicken.bmj.com\/thebmj\/wp-json\/oembed\/1.0\/embed?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbmj-chicken.bmj.com%2Fthebmj%2Fthe-bmj-article%2Fmeningitis-fatal-outbreak-in-kent-is-less-targeted-strain-b-officials-confirm%2F"}},{"tag":"link","attributes":{"rel":"alternate","title":"oEmbed (XML)","type":"text\/xml+oembed","href":"https:\/\/bmj-chicken.bmj.com\/thebmj\/wp-json\/oembed\/1.0\/embed?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbmj-chicken.bmj.com%2Fthebmj%2Fthe-bmj-article%2Fmeningitis-fatal-outbreak-in-kent-is-less-targeted-strain-b-officials-confirm%2F&format=xml"}},{"tag":"link","attributes":{"rel":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/","href":"https:\/\/bmj-chicken.bmj.com\/thebmj\/wp-json\/"}},{"tag":"link","attributes":{"rel":"alternate","title":"JSON","type":"application\/json","href":"https:\/\/bmj-chicken.bmj.com\/thebmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/the-bmj-article\/27210"}},{"tag":"link","attributes":{"rel":"EditURI","type":"application\/rsd+xml","title":"RSD","href":"https:\/\/bmj-chicken.bmj.com\/thebmj\/xmlrpc.php?rsd"}},{"tag":"meta","attributes":{"name":"generator","content":"WordPress 6.9.4"}},{"tag":"link","attributes":{"rel":"shortlink","href":"https:\/\/bmj-chicken.bmj.com\/thebmj\/?p=27210"}},{"tag":"meta","attributes":{"property":"og:locale","content":"en_GB"}},{"tag":"meta","attributes":{"property":"og:site_name","content":"The BMJ"}},{"tag":"meta","attributes":{"property":"og:title","content":"Meningitis: Fatal outbreak in Kent is less targeted strain B, officials confirm"}},{"tag":"meta","attributes":{"property":"og:url","content":"https:\/\/bmj-chicken.bmj.com\/thebmj\/the-bmj-article\/meningitis-fatal-outbreak-in-kent-is-less-targeted-strain-b-officials-confirm\/"}},{"tag":"meta","attributes":{"property":"og:type","content":"article"}},{"tag":"meta","attributes":{"property":"og:description","content":"The BMJ: leading general medical journal. Research. Education. Comment"}},{"tag":"meta","attributes":{"name":"twitter:title","content":"Meningitis: Fatal outbreak in Kent is less targeted strain B, officials confirm"}},{"tag":"meta","attributes":{"name":"twitter:url","content":"https:\/\/bmj-chicken.bmj.com\/thebmj\/the-bmj-article\/meningitis-fatal-outbreak-in-kent-is-less-targeted-strain-b-officials-confirm\/"}},{"tag":"meta","attributes":{"name":"twitter:description","content":"The BMJ: leading general medical journal. Research. Education. Comment"}},{"tag":"meta","attributes":{"name":"twitter:card","content":"summary_large_image"}}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bmj-chicken.bmj.com\/thebmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/the-bmj-article\/27210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bmj-chicken.bmj.com\/thebmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/the-bmj-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bmj-chicken.bmj.com\/thebmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/the-bmj-article"}],"type":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bmj-chicken.bmj.com\/thebmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/the-bmj-article"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bmj-chicken.bmj.com\/thebmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bmj-chicken.bmj.com\/thebmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bmj-chicken.bmj.com\/thebmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27210"},{"taxonomy":"article-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bmj-chicken.bmj.com\/thebmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content_type?post=27210"},{"taxonomy":"editorial-panel","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bmj-chicken.bmj.com\/thebmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/editorial_panel?post=27210"},{"taxonomy":"channel-page","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bmj-chicken.bmj.com\/thebmj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/channel_page?post=27210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}