Meningitis scare at PE school

A PORT Elizabeth schoolgirl has been admitted to St George's Hospital with a contagious form of meningitis.

The DF Malherbe pupil, who cannot be identified, was admitted at the weekend, according to an employee at the Walmer school.

The employee, who did not want to be named, said it was an isolated case.

"We would not like to make a big deal of this. The school has handled the situation and everything here is running normally," she said.

An SMS advisory had been sent to all the pupils' parents as soon as the school was notified about the case.

"We also notified the Department of Health. A nurse from the department came to the school and dispensed prophylactics to pupils as a preventative measure," the woman said.

DF Malherbe principal Arno van Wyk confirmed the case and said the pupil had meningococcal meningitis.

"We had a nurse from the Department of Health at the school who was introduced to the pupils at assembly and explained the situation to them in both English and Afrikaans," he said.

"The pupils were given preventative medication as a precaution."

Van Wyk said the girl had been in class last week and was a bit off-colour at first, like a number of other pupils suffering with flu and colds.

However, her condition had worsened towards the end of the week.

Life St George's Hospital spokeswoman Natalie Henman confirmed that the girl had been admitted at the weekend.

The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said meningococcal meningitis was endemic in South Africa and cases occurred year-round, peaking in winter and early spring.

• Meningococcal meningitis is spread by bodily fluids, such as saliva, and people who are in intimate or close contact with an infected person. - Shaun Gillham and Estelle Ellis