A TEENAGE girl at a Pendle high school has been struck down by suspected meningitis, it was revealed today.

The 13-year-old pupil at Mansfield High, Brierfield, is among five suspected cases of the killer virus to afflict East Lancashire in the past week. The disease has also claimed the life of a child from Blackburn.

Parents of pupils at Mansfield have been sent letters urging them to be vigilant.

The youngster is being treated at Burnley General Hospital while public health officials wait for the result of laboratory tests.

An East Lancashire Health Authority spokesman said the girl had been admitted to hospital but it could be some time before the case was confirmed.

She said: "There is no need for further action, but parents who are worried should seek advice from their GP." Brierfield father Mohammed Asghar, who has two children at Mansfield, said parents were extremely worried about the situation.

Shopkeeper Mr Asghar, 41, of Halifax Road, added: "I have rung the school and the health authority because people are concerned.

"In other parts of the country parents were given assurances and later after young people died, children had to return to school at weekend for treatment.

"We need to know exactly what is going on."

A meeting of the health authority was told yesterday that there had been17 suspected cases of the deadly brain virus since Christmas Eve of which two had proved fatal. The first death was 13-month-old Ethan Smith, from Blackburn, who died after developing meningoccocal septicaemia, the more serious blood poisoning strain.

Today it was revealed the latest fatality involved a second child from Blackburn but East Lancashire Health Authority refused to release details about the age or sex of the youngster.

Director of Public Health Dr Stephen Morton said: "We have had 17 cases since Christmas Eve of different strains and different age groups.

"The majority have been pre-school children which suggests it has spread through family contacts rather than intimate social gatherings as is sometimes the case in adolescents.

"We don't know why some people become ill. It is a fairly common bacteria but only a few people become ill.'' He said it was vital that people knew the symptoms which included fever, rash which does not fade under pressure, vomiting, stiff neck and a dislike of light. In young children it included fretfulness and extreme irritability.

Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale Community Health Council chairman Frank Clifford was assured that GPs carried penicillin and other drugs so that immediate treatment could be given in suspected cases.

He said all ambulances in Lancashire carried cards detailing the symptoms and that the cards were also available at the CHC offices and doctors' surgeries.

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