Sequencing explains the severity of the Kent meningococcal outbreak
UKHSA and Oxford researchers have explained March’s outbreak in Kent, traced to one Canterbury nightclub over a weekend: 21 people were diagnosed in a week, all needed hospital treatment, nine intensive care, and two died. Sequencing shows the bacteria had picked up DNA from harmless throat bacteria, producing an unusually severe strain. UKHSA says outbreaks like it are likely to happen again and stresses vaccination and knowing the symptoms — fever, headache, stiff neck, sensitivity to light, a rash that does not fade under pressure. Seek help immediately.
UK Health Security Agency, 22 September
Sleep advice for freshers: fix your waking time, not your bedtime
Forcing an early night does not work, Jo Baker, a psychotherapist and student sleep expert, told BBC News: lie there awake and your brain learns that bed is where you get stressed. A consistent waking time matters more, helped by daylight before about 11am. Caffeine lingers and blocks the build-up of sleepiness, and alcohol pushes out the deep sleep that restores you physically, replacing it with lighter sleep that does not. Useful in a week of late nights, noisy flatmates and an unfamiliar bed — more on student sleep.