Nightclub Owner At Centre Of Meningitis Outbreak Says ‘Something Isn’t Making Sense’
The owner of Club Chemistry in Canterbury, Kent, has said that ‘something isn’t making sense’ about the meningitis outbreak that has now resulted in 2 deaths, 23 confirmed cases, and 11 more still being investigated.
Louise Jones-Roberts, who owns the Kent nightclub, told LBC that she can’t understand how the outbreak spread to easily.
She said: “There’s been a lot of talk about how hard it is to transmit, but then there’s also, at the same time, saying the conversation is that nobody needs to panic and we don’t all need the vaccine, but at the same time, the things don’t quite add up.
“Actually, it was transmitted a lot more easily, by the looks of it, than they’re suggesting, so something isn’t making sense somewhere.”
'We weren't sure whether it was genuine…'
— LBC (@LBC) March 20, 2026
Owner of Chemistry nightclub, Louise Jones-Roberts, tells @TomSwarbrick1 they were told about the meningitis outbreak via 'unorthodox' Instagram DM. pic.twitter.com/WqfGGlP5oD
According to the NHS, viruses and bacteria that cause meningitis are caused through close contact with a person who has them: contact with the person’s spit, such as kissing them, or sharing drinks or vapes, being in close contact with the person for a lot of time, such as living in the same home.
So it actually does make sense that a super-spreader event could take place in a nightclub that has a 1,600-person capacity and is packed full of students who are presumably doing all those things; kissing and sharing each other’s drinks and vapes.
The part that isn’t adding up is how it’s become a massive news story and how there’s all this doommongering going on, but at the same time they’re not advising everyone to get vaccinated (shockingly).
I suppose the reason for this is that there’s no evidence it is spreading beyond the nightclub. However it’s still a big story because even though it’s seemingly contained to Kent, meningitis doesn’t usually spread this fast. Perhaps it’s a hardcore new strain?
Well either way, fair play to Jones-Roberts for questioning it all, especially with Club Chemistry now temportarily closed down. At the end of the day it’s not her this happened and it must absolutely suck to have your business associated with such a negative national news story, but clearly at least one person with meningitis turned up that night and it all snowballed from there.
Jones-Roberts also noted two of her staff members are in hospital due to the outbreak, so whether they introduced it to the club or a student brought it in is anyone’s guess.
For the anti-vaccine parents whose child died after they tried to cure meningitis with maple syrup, click HERE.
