A TEENAGE boy is said to be doing well after being admitted to hospital with meningitis.

The fourteen-year-old boy, a pupil at Westhoughton High School, was taken to Bolton General Hospital last Thursday after contracting Meningoccocal meningitis.

There are no other cases at the school nor have there been any other of this kind in the Westhoughton area in the past year.

Doctor Robert Aston, Consultant and Communicably Disease Control with Bolton and Wigan health Authority,said there was no increased risk to children at the school. He said the only people with a slightly increased risk were members of the same family and close kissing contacts.

Doctor Aston said: "The bug that carries it is there all the time. About a third of the population is carrying the bug which settles at the back of the nose and throat and usually does not do any harm. Unfortunately some people seemed to be more susceptible to it."

Doctor Aston's advice to parents is not to rely on a list of symptoms which are like any other childhood infection, but to seek medical advice if they think their child is unwell.

"Parents do know when things are going wrong if they are vigilant. If you are a parent and your child is not well call the doctor out and if you are still worried call him back again. If you cannot get a doctor go the casualty."

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