Several Barbadian students at the University of Kent in the southern English town of Canterbury have begun leaving the school after a deadly outbreak of meningitis B that has killed two people, including a British student on campus, prompting health officials here to monitor the situation and advise vigilance, though they said the risk to the island remains low.
One Barbadian student, on the cusp of his 19th birthday, has told Barbados TODAY exclusively of the fear and uncertainty gripping the college in the wake of the outbreak.
Chief Medical Officer Dr Kenneth George urged Barbadians to practise good hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette, and ensure their vaccines are up to date.
The risk to the wider UK population is low, Dr George said. He explained that meningitis is usually caused by a bacterial or viral infection. Bacterial meningitis is rarer but more serious than the viral form. Infections that cause the disease can be spread through sneezing, coughing or kissing.
The disease is usually caught from people who carry these viruses or bacteria in their nose or throat but are not ill themselves. It can also be caught from someone with meningitis, but this is less common.
The top public health official said the illness can begin with flu-like symptoms but may deteriorate rapidly, displaying key warning signs such as a sudden high fever, severe headache, light sensitivity, vomiting, severe diarrhoea, abdominal pain or drowsiness progressing to coma. Meningitis can also cause death.
The number of cases linked to the escalating Kent outbreak has risen to 29, UK health officials revealed on Friday after confirming two further infections.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said in its daily update on Friday morning that 18 cases had been confirmed and a further 11 were under investigation.
Some 13 of the 18 confirmed cases are known to be caused by meningitis B (MenB), and all have required hospital admission. Friday’s total of 29 is an increase from the 27 reported on Thursday, 20 on Wednesday, 15 on Tuesday and 13 on Monday.
In an exclusive telephone interview from his campus dormitory in Kent, a traumatised first-year Barbadian student, Dent Thomas, told Barbados TODAY the outbreak — which he said originated at a nightclub in Canterbury on March 5 — first came to light for students through the news media on Monday.
Thomas expressed disappointment that the campus administrators informed them of the outbreak only at the last minute.
“I found out not too long ago; at the beginning of this week. I was terrified because one of my friends called me as I got back from the library because I had an exam today. I had it online. He was completely terrified. He was telling me that you need to get your antibiotics immediately; there is a meningitis outbreak; it has killed two people, and frankly, I was completely terrified, because it was so close to me. I live in one of the many accommodations in the University of Kent; and someone who got ill from meningitis, was in the block right next to me. So, it made it a lot more personal, because it was happening directly in my vicinity. So, I was even more terrified.
“To public knowledge, it has been going on since Monday; but, from what we are aware, at the Chemistry, a nightclub in Canterbury, which is where the meningitis outbreak originated, it’s been said that there has been a meningitis issue since March 5 and people who had attended Chemistry should get vaccinated or get tested. So, this shows it’s been going on for a while.
“And my university hasn’t said anything until the very last minute. I actually knew about this outbreak from the news sources before my own university, which disappointed me, quite frankly. So, I am just disappointed with the university’s handling of the situation.”
Thomas, who is doing a three-year degree course in international business, said students are horrified about the lasting effects the disease could have on their mental health and wellbeing.
“But right now, everyone is getting their vaccines. Not too long ago we had antibiotics too, which lessened our anxiety. And right now, we are feeling less and less anxious about this terrible, terrible outbreak.”
The Harrison College alumnus, who moved to Lockerbie College while in fifth form, revealed that some Barbadians have already left for home and other parts of the UK, but he will relocate to Spain on Saturday to spend time with his girlfriend until authorities instruct students to return.
“Almost everyone that I am friends with, has plans to leave, or has left already. Some Bajan students have left for Barbados already. So, it really shows that people are trying their best to leave this place as quickly and as swiftly as possible, because they don’t want anything to deal with this situation. I am planning on leaving tomorrow. So, yes, everyone is basically trying their best to leave this place; and it’s basically a ghost town on campus.”
He said he has a close friendship with seven of the Barbadians on campus, and the one who lives on the block next to his has been his friend “since I was in the womb”.
He added: “A lot of them have. I know one that is in Leeds right now; and a lot, like I said, have left for Barbados already. So, approximately seven or eight.”
Thomas explained that authorities have not mandated evacuation of the campus or quarantine, but have left the decision to students’ discretion.
“No, they have not mandated evacuation. They basically said if ‘you have the ability to, you should leave the University of Kent, as quickly as possible, that they have not mandated any evacuations so far.”
Thomas, who arrived at the university on September 21 last year, expressed empathy with the families of those who died from the disease.
A nervous-sounding Thomas, who celebrates his 19th birthday next week, said: “My condolences go out to the families of everyone who sadly passed away and everyone who is in the hospital right now suffering from this outbreak. At first, it was chaotic, but right now it is slowly dying down. But the consensus right now is that everyone is terrified of this meningitis outbreak. Even people who are not in Canterbury, who are not in Kent, are terrified of this.
“Because the disease is so scary, so terrifying, because it can have permanent effects on you, even if you don’t pass away. It can leave you with struggles remembering things; it can leave you blind. It’s a scary disease.”
emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb
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