A YORK student was today recovering in hospital after being struck down by potentially-lethal meningitis.

Some 12,500 students and staff have been put on alert after the first-year University of York student admitted herself to York hospital on Sunday.

The student, who is thought to be 19, was diagnosed as suffering from meningococcal B meningitis and was said today to be recovering well.

Although most students at the university have been vaccinated against bacterial meningitis strains A and C, there is currently no vaccine for the B variety.

Close friends of the woman have been given a precautionary dose of antibiotics to prevent an outbreak on the Heslington campus. Staff and students have also been reminded of the symptoms of the disease as part of the university's meningitis action plan. The illness struck in York only a day after a 20-year-old student in Surrey died of meningococcal septicaemia. The Meningitis Trust reissued a warning to students to be aware of the symptoms of the disease and not to wait for a rash to appear before seeking help. University of York spokeswoman Hilary Layton said: "We have a meningitis action plan because we have had cases in previous years.

"Essentially, that's tracing the close contacts of the person concerned and giving them antibiotics, and also informing the internal community through our online communications system. The Students' Union is also distributing information about the disease, so it's a co-ordinated effort.

"Our concerns are with the student concerned and we are doing what we can for her family and friends. We just hope she makes a swift recovery."

She said the last case of meningitis at the university was in late 1999 and the student concerned made a full recovery.

The Meningitis Trust confirmed there had been a high number of reported cases of meningitis throughout England and Wales during the last few weeks. A total of 53 cases were reported in the first week of January alone.

Bev Corbett, education manager for the trust, said awareness of the disease among students had fallen since the introduction of the meningitis C vaccine.

Updated: 10:23 Friday, January 30, 2004