Four students from Boyangzhen No. 1 Middle School in the city of Huazhou, south China's Guangdong Province, have been diagnosed to contract epidemic cerebrospinal meningitis and one died, said the provincial disease prevention and control center on Saturday.

 

The four students, all 13 years old, are classmates in the school.

 

They successively suffered headache, fever and vomit from Dec. 14 to 20 and were then confirmed to be infectious with epidemic cerebrospinal meningitis, said Peng Guowen, an official with the center.

 

Peng said the students suffered a C-type epidemic cerebrospinal meningitis, but in the past, most patients in Guangdong have contracted an A-type of the disease.

 

One of the sick students was unaware of the seriousness of the disease and did not go to hospital timely, who died later on the way to hospital.

 

The official said the three other students were in a stable condition as of Saturday afternoon and two of them were quickly recovering.

 

The local disease prevention and control have already started sterilizing the middle school while vaccinating the students and teachers.

 

(Xinhua News Agency December 24, 2006)