A York school pupil has been admitted to hospital with suspected meningitis.

Parents of children at Joseph Rowntree School in New Earswick have been sent letters from head teacher Hugh Porter warning that the unnamed student, who lives in the York area, had a suspected meningococcal infection.

They have been asked to keep an eye out for symptoms of the potentially life-threatening disease in their children.

But parents have been reassured that there is only a slight risk of further cases at the school, and that they should continue to send their children to school as normal.

Joseph Rowntree deputy head David Selby said the pupil had been taken to York District Hospital at the weekend with suspected meningitis and the school had followed normal procedures for warning parents in conjunction with North Yorkshire Health Authority.

Accompanying the letter was a leaflet giving information about the disease and symptoms to watch out for.

He said at the last update the student was said to be "recovering very well". Mr Selby said they had followed advice people should not overreact, though he added: "It's not routine, because of course meningitis is potentially a very serious illness if a student is suffering from that and it is taken very seriously."

A City of York Council spokeswoman said the school had followed statutory procedures, adding: "Parents have also been told there is no risk for their children to go to school."

Dr Phil Kirby, consultant in public health medicine at North Yorkshire Health Authority, said the case had not yet been confirmed as meningitis, but was being treated as "probable".

Dr Kirby said: "The public health message is that there has been a suspected case in a child at the school. We are doing the usual public health interventions. There was only a very slight increased risk of further cases at the school and none in the general community. It's not part of an outbreak."

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