TIME FOR ACTION

With a death rate of around one in 10, it's no wonder a national incident has been declared following the explosive outbreak of meningitis B in Kent. This is not alarmism – it is reality.

- ISABEL WEBSTER

The sheer speed of the disease is what makes it so uniquely frightening.

Two (at the time of writing) young people have died. The family of 18-year-old Juliette Kenny described their 'immeasurable' loss before warning, 'The illness took her from us so quickly.' Those who survive can also face lifelong complications, from hearing loss and brain injury to amputation due to sepsis-related tissue damage.