A 17-year-old boy from the Whitfield area of Dover has died from meningitis. The boy, who has not been named, was admitted to hospital in a serious condition with the meningitis C strain on Friday, but has subsequently died.

Dr Mathi Chandrakumar, the East Kent consultant for communicable diseases, said all the boy’s close contacts had been given preventative antibiotics.

He added: "Cases of meningitis are often reported to us, but fortunately not many of them prove fatal."