Claims extracted
21
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
14%
3 of 21 hedged
("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
66/100
BBC News's corrections and
hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Health
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
- Published
Scientists say they have discovered why the bacteria responsible for the UK's worst outbreak of meningitis B in Kent earlier this year proved so dangerous.
asserted
bacteria → publish → Kent
More than 20 young people, mostly students, were infected in the March outbreak, linked to a Canterbury nightclub.
asserted
people → infect → nightclub
All needed hospital treatment, while nine ended up in intensive care and two died.
asserted
two → need → care
Experts at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the University of Oxford, who have looked at the DNA of the bacterium, external, say it picked up some genetic material from other bugs found naturally in the throats of some people.
asserted
it → look → people
This exchange created a new strain or variant that then spread between clubbers and caused severe illness.
asserted
that → create → illness
Experts stress the meningitis vaccine currently being offered to more than a million young people starting university protects against it.
asserted
vaccine → stress → it
Rare, but it could happen again
"
uncertain
it → happen → ?
This investigation shows just how quickly and dramatically these bacteria can change," says Dr Charlene Rodrigues, consultant in Pathogen Genomics at UKHSA.
asserted
Rodrigues → show → UKHSA
"The fact this outbreak variant was able to spread to so many young people was due to the social environment, a place where lots of close social mixing takes place."
asserted
lots → spread → place
Speaking exclusively to the BBC, she said bacteria are known to undergo changes like this, known as horizontal gene transfer.
asserted
bacteria → speak → transfer
Such changes can make infections more severe, and may mean they get past the immune system because people haven't encountered them before.
These events, while rare and unpredictable, could happen again, so experts "should not take their eye off the ball", she added.
uncertain
she → make → ball
Scientists say speed and severity of the Kent outbreak was very unusual.
asserted
speed → say → outbreak
It was described as "unprecedented" and "explosive" at the time, with so many infections happening in one place and over a very short period.
asserted
infections → describe → period
Two people died - a 21-year-old University of Kent student and Juliette Kenny, a sixth-form pupil at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School in Faversham.
asserted
people → die → Faversham
The outbreak is thought to have started in a nightclub called Club Chemistry in the city centre, which was popular with university students.
asserted
which → think → students
It's likely one person brought the infection in with them, and then it spread that evening.
asserted
it → bring → them
Meningitis is passed through close contact - including kissing and sharing drinks or vapes.
asserted
Meningitis → pass → drinks
Dr Rodrigues suspects the very same genetic changes that made the strain so dangerous may also explain why the outbreak was short-lived and did not continue to spread.
uncertain
outbreak → suspect → ?
People were generally too sick to be silent carriers who can pass it on unknowingly to others.
asserted
who → pass → others
Following the Kent outbreak, a one-off menB vaccination programme was launched to protect young people heading to university this autumn.
asserted
programme → follow → university
In July, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) also recommended that teenagers should be offered the jab on the NHS around the age of 15, with catch-up programmes for those who would otherwise miss out.
asserted
who → recommend → those
The Aporia
