A 14-year old student at South Dartmoor Community College, Ashburton, is making 'a very good recovery' in Torbay Hospital after being diagnosed with a severe form of meningitis. Parents have been sent precautionary letters telling them to be on the alert for symptoms of the meningococcal septicaemia virus. These include fever, rash, severe headaches, dislike of bright lights, stiff neck, drowsiness, vomiting, aching limbs or joints and cold hands or feet. It is one of the most dangerous forms of meningitis and leads to severe blood poisoning. It has a death rate of 40 per cent and even higher if shock occurs before treatment can be started. College principal Ray Tarleton confirmed that a boy was in Torbay Hospital, 'making a very good recovery.' He said that the hospital had identified no one at increased risk among the boy's family and that the risk to fellow students was even smaller. 'Occasionally you get a second case in school, but the risk in this situation is very much lower. 'We have been told to do nothing to alter the normal college routine. 'Obviously, if we are asked to do anything else, we will. It's keeping a watchful eye approach at the moment,' he said.
