STUDENTS at a university hall of residence were being screened yesterday after an undergraduate died from meningitis - four days after another student was admitted to hospital suffering from the same infectious disease.
Health experts and university authorities have not yet identified any direct link between the two outbreaks, but last night confirmed the two cases have been diagnosed as meningococcal infection.
The 22-year-old student, who died on Sunday, was s
taying at Aberdeen University halls of residence in King Street. The student admitted to hospital last Wednesday was a resident at the Hillhead halls of residence in the heart of the university campus and was last night said to be in a satisfactory condition.
Flatmates of the student who died, a third-year undergraduate, have been given antibiotics as a precaution.
Michelle Blankson, 21, a student living at the King Street halls, said: "Everyone is shocked. I knew the student who died and saw him in town on Friday night and he was fine. He seemed perfectly healthy."
She claimed students at the halls had received only scant information since the death and said that she had learned only yesterday of the link to meningitis.
Ms Blankson, a third-year economics student, added: "[The university authorities] are pretty relaxed about it.
We've been told there is no risk of infection, but I am going to see my GP just to make sure. I have been talking to my parents and they have advised me to get tests done."
Pooja Shah, 20, a third-year finance student, said her flatmates at the King Street halls heard screams from one of the flats on Sunday night.
She added: "When they went out they were told to go back into their rooms and remain there and pull their kitchen curtains because the kitchen windows look down on the entrance to the halls."
A spokeswoman for NHS Grampian said: "Our health-protection team is carrying out all the normal, routine procedures for both cases. Close contacts are being traced and given antibiotics where appropriate.
"NHS Grampian and Aberdeen University are investigating any possible links between the two students," the spokeswoman added.
A university spokeswoman said: "The university continues to take guidance from the health-protection team."
SWIFT CARE IS ESSENTIAL
MENINGOCOCCAL disease is a life-threatening infection and is a term used to describe two major illnesses - meningitis and septicaemia (blood poisoning).
Most people who contract the disease will make a good recovery. However, meningococcal disease requires swift medical treatment, as around 7 per cent of cases will result in death, and 15 per cent of those who contract it can be left with severe and disabling after-effects.
The symptoms of meningococcal disease include fever, vomiting, stiffness in the neck, visual discomfort in bright light and possibly a rash of small red spots.
The full article contains 481 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
