Meningitis outbreak in Kent University that infected a dozen of people have now further infected more people. The total number as of now is 27, as experts say that incubation period of the bacteria may lead to an increase in number of those who are sick. However, health officials, as per The Guardian report, believe that they have contained the fatal outbreak, with "no cases emerging that are not linked to the original cluster of 20".Read: UK Meningitis Outbreak: 9-month-old Baby Battles For Life In Intensive CareThe bug that causes the infection has been identified as the known strain of meningitis B and MenB vaccines will be offered to 5,000 students living in the University of Kent halls of residence in Cantebury. While several reports claim that parents are rushing to pharmacies to get their children vaccinated, due to which there is a shortage of the MenB vaccines, health secretary, Wes Streeting has denied any such claims. "There is actually plenty of stock of vaccine supply in the country," he said. Read: Meningitis Outbreak From Kent University Is Now A National Incident, Parents Fighting For Jabs Amid Low StockAs per the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) official, people infected in Kent were the ones who visited a nightclub on 5,6 or 7 March. The officials, including NHS members and county council public health staff who have been tackling the outbreak believe that it has not been passed on to anyone outside the area. "All cases to date are linked to the current outbreak in Kent," said a UKHSA spokesperson, as reported by The Guardian. Another official involved in the multi-agency response said, "We may have contained it. There are no cases popping up elsewhere that we know of – no cases that we know of outside the cluster – or not yet anyway. We are rolling out a vaccine and antibiotics and tracing contacts. So there’s nothing we’re not doing.”Quickest-growing Meningitis Outbreak EverUKHSA chief executive Susan Hopkins said the outbreak "looks like a super-spreader" event with "ongoing spread" through universities' halls of residence. She added: "There will have been some parties particularly around this, so there will have been lots of social mixing. I can't yet say where the initial infection came from, how it's got into this cohort, and why it's created such an explosive amount of infections."She further said that in her 35 years working in medicine, healthcare, and hospitals, "This is the most cases I've ever seen in a single weekend with this type of infection". She added: "It is the explosive nature that is unprecedented here - the number of cases in such a short space of time." She also remarked that this was the "quickest-growing outbreak" she has ever seen in her career.What Is Meningitis?Meningitis is a serious medical condition that affects the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, the meninges. While fever is not always present, it is usually considered as one of the classic symptoms of meningitis. It is important to know the varied symptoms, causes, and treatments of meningitis for early diagnosis and proper management of the disease.Meningitis is an infectious illness that brings about inflammation in the meninges. The most common cause of such inflammation is bacterial or viral infections, though other causes are also possible including fungal, parasitic, or non-infectious causes (autoimmune disease, head injury, or brain surgery). Meningitis may be caused by bacterial meningitis, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicates can be so severe and bring about conditions like hearing loss, vision problems, and death if not received on time.