Deadly Bacteria and Human Ecosystems: Lessons from Kent's Meningitis Outbreak The recent meningitis outbreak in Kent, which left two young people dead and nine others fighting for their lives in intensive care, has highlighted the alarming ability of bacteria to change and adapt to their human hosts.
The investigation by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the University of Oxford into the DNA of the bacterium responsible for the outbreak found that it acquired genetic material from other bugs naturally present in people's throats, creating a new strain or variant that spread rapidly among clubbers.
Bacteria are known to undergo changes through horizontal gene transfer, which can make infections more severe and harder for our immune systems to combat.