What's driving the outbreak of meningitis among students?
Inside Health
BBC
4.4 • 575 Ratings
🗓️ 24 March 2026
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
More than 30,000 people are being contacted in the Canterbury area regarding the outbreak of bacterial meningitis in Kent. Two people have died, and others are seriously ill. James Gallagher speaks with immunologist Sir Andrew Pollard about the disease, and finds out what could have caused the outbreak.
That’s the major headline from the UK. But more broadly, for the last few weeks the news has been dominated by the situation in the Middle East. James speaks with Dr Antoine Abou Fayad, a microbiologist and medicinal chemist based in Beirut, Lebanon. He reveals that war, just like the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, provides the perfect storm to accelerate the spread of multidrug-resistant infections. And nobody is safe. And finally, James finds out about an ongoing trial at the University of Exeter, where interactive computer games are being used by stroke patients to improve their recovery. And, of course, James has a go himself!
Presenter: James Gallagher Producer: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell Researcher: Tom Hunt Editor: Ilan Goodman
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts. |
| 0:07.0 | An early start here. It's time to kick off. |
| 0:10.0 | Your day. Morning! |
| 0:11.9 | What a line-up. |
| 0:13.3 | Oh, thanks very much. We do get some great guests on the show. |
| 0:16.1 | The crowd is loving this. |
| 0:18.3 | Thanks, guys. Thank you. Too kind. |
| 0:20.2 | From morning chaos to match day commentary. |
| 0:23.6 | And everything in between. |
| 0:25.0 | BBC sounds packed with personality. |
| 0:28.8 | Hello there and welcome to the Inside Health podcast. I'm James Gallagher. |
| 0:32.7 | We'll be discussing how conflicts such as those in Iran and Ukraine lead to the global spread of drug-resistant |
| 0:38.8 | superbugs, and we'll have a go at a new video game that could help people recover from a stroke. |
| 0:44.7 | But first, our attention is on Kent, and a large outbreak of bacterial meningitis. |
| 0:51.0 | These are rare in the UK, so what's going on? |
| 1:00.0 | This type of meningitis is caused by bacteria, which often live harmlessly in the nose, but they rapidly become deadly if they can infect the lining of the brain or cause blood poisoning. |
| 1:05.0 | Symptoms include fever, headache, rapid breathing, drowsiness, shivering, vomiting, cold hands and feet, and there's |
| 1:13.8 | a characteristic rash that doesn't fade when you press a glass against it. Yesterday, I spoke to |
| 1:20.4 | Professor Sir Andrew Pollard, who has treated children with meningitis and researched meningitis |
| 1:25.8 | vaccines. Andrew, welcome to Inside Health. |
| 1:28.3 | Hello, James. |
| 1:28.9 | Nice to join you again. |
... |
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