Thursday briefing: The largest cluster of cases in a generation – what’s behind the meningitis B outbreak?

In today’s newsletter: After a spate of infections linked to a nightclub in Kent, some parents and experts are questioning the UK’s vaccination regime It is every parent’s worst nightmare. University students enjoying themselves at a nightclub, only to fall ill a few days later with a potentially deadly illness. So far, two young people have died and more are seriously unwell in hospital after a meningitis outbreak in Kent, which appears to have started at Club Chemistry in Canterbury in early March. Health authorities have launched a major response: 30,000 people have been given antibiotics and up to 5,000 Kent" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="31024" data-entity-type="organization">University of Kent students will receive a meningitis B vaccine, the strain that is believed to be behind the outbreak. The health secretary, Wes Streeting, has urged calm, explaining that the risk of transmission is low, urging students to keep going to school and insisting that people do not need to seek private vaccinations. But that has not stopped a rush for jabs, causing a national shortage. The high street pharmacies Boots and Superdrug say they have seen a major spike in bookings, with some locations running out of stock. Middle East | Israel struck Iran’s giant South Pars gasfield on Wednesday, marking a major escalation of the war , hours after Israeli forces killed the regime’s intelligence minister and launched some of the most intense airstrikes in Beirut for decades. Reform UK | Nigel Farage called for the release of Sean “Diddy” Combs and commended the efforts to free a former Honduran president jailed in the US for drug trafficking. The remarks were made on the personalised video platform Cameo. Assisted dying | Senior ministers believe Keir Starmer will not intervene to give the assisted dying bill further time in parliament as he is wary of opening up new divisions among Labour MPs. Media | The former Google executive Matt Brittin is expected to be named as the BBC’s next director general within days, with the corporation’s board meeting this week for a final discussion about the appointment. Green party | A government led by the Green party would not set targets for GDP growth but would instead focus on people’s mental health, social cohesion and community welfare, Zack Polanski has said in a major speech to set out his plans for the economy. Continue reading...