A York man is in hospital today after being struck down by a strain of the killer bug meningitis.

His illness has raised concerns from parents at Westfield School in Acomb, where his sister is a pupil.

Family and workmates of the man, thought to be in his early twenties, have been visited by health experts to make sure any infection is spotted quickly.

But a spokesman for York and District NHS Trust said pupils at the school were at no risk.

Dr Will Patterson said: "We have about 30 cases of meningitis in the York area every year, but outbreaks are extremely rare.

"Anybody who has an indirect relationship with this patient, including children at the school, have no increased risk at all."

He said 10 per cent of the population carry the meningitis germ at any one time, although the chances of infection from it are very low.

Education officer Liz Jones, of City of York Council, said: "I understand there is a pupil at the school who has a member of family with meningitis.

"The school has taken all the precautions and contacted the health services and is waiting for them to advise it on what action to take next."

However, a concerned parent, who has a little girl in the same class as the sister of the meningitis victim, but who asked not to be named, said: "I sympathise with the family, it must be terrible for them, but this girl in my daughter's class has got a brother in intensive care with meningitis.

"Nobody has been notified and my daughter is playing with the girl. What is the chance of it being transmitted to all the kids?"

A spokeswoman for the school said they did not wish to comment.

The patient, who is in York District Hospital, is one of about 15 in the York area since November.

Winter is known as the time of year with the highest risk of infection, but it is estimated this year has seen more cases than normal.

Philip Kirby, spokesman for the National Meningitis Trust, said: "It was quieter than expected before Christmas, but we have had an awful lot of cases in January, certainly more than we would have expected.

"It is too early to say how it compares with other years, but I expect that we have seen an increase."

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