Club Chemistry to reopen with warnings about kissing

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Club Chemistry, the epicentre of the meningitis outbreak in Kent, will reopen on Thursday with a request for partygoers to be mindful of the risks of “intimate contact”. The nightclub closed on 15 March and has since passed inspections by public and environmental health officials. It was identified as the source of a spate of meningitis B cases which killed two people. The number of total confirmed cases – 20 – has not increased in more than a week. Club Chemistry’s warnings about kissing and sharing personal items speak to the fact that meningitis typically spreads through saliva. But the club might struggle to regain its clientele. Why the disease spread so quickly in a large cluster remains unclear. It is possible there was a perfect storm one evening, but the conditions for those perfect storms happen all the time.