It is the disease which strikes fear into the heart of every parent: meningitis. At this time of year the bug is at its most rampant; the latest victim is a Rotherham woman, the third to die of meningitis in the town in a matter of days.

The most virulent strain is particularly dangerous to young children and teenagers. So any parent will empathise with the alarm caused at Westfield School in Acomb, York, by news that a pupil's brother is in hospital with the disease.

Their concern has been exacerbated by the way they learned about it. Parents say that they were not officially notified. Instead, news has reached them on the grapevine.

This is a guaranteed way to make matters worse. As information is passed by word of mouth it becomes distorted and exaggerated.

Panic can often be the outcome.

The last thing the authorities want is to have parents keeping their children from school out of misguided fear.

Meningitis is not a straightforward illness. One of the problems faced by health chiefs is that it cannot be explained in one or two sentences.

According to public health expert Dr Will Patterson, one in ten of us carries the meningitis germ at any one time. But the chances of infection are very low.

The virus itself comes in a variety of forms, some far more harmful than others. It is an infection but quarantine is considered ineffective.

Another difficulty is that the initial symptoms of meningitis - headache, fever and loss of appetite - are very similar to those of more common illnesses.

Doctors attempting to inform the public about the disease have to perform a precarious balancing act. They do not want to cause unnecessary alarm; but neither do they want to blind people with science.

Nevertheless, it is an act they must attempt. When a child or young person dies from the disease it is a tragedy, and one rare enough to make the headlines. Society's fear of meningitis is therefore out of proportion to the risk it poses.

Simple, accurate information is the only way to allay that fear.

The best way to deal with a case such as Westfield School is to give parents the facts. They should have been told about the pupil's brother at the earliest opportunity and given a written explanation as to why their children were not at risk. A standard letter could be drawn up by the education authority for just such an eventuality.

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