WORRIED parents are demanding anti-meningitis inoculations for their children after two more suspected cases of the deadly disease in Congleton this week.

A five-year-old boy and a pre-school child are being treated for suspected meningococcal septicaemia after being rushed into hospital on Tuesday.

The boy is a pupil at Daven Primary School, and is in the year below six-year-old Adam Hammond, who is recovering after being struck down by the same disease.

The three children come from the Bromley Farm estate in Congleton, and live fairly close to each other.

Numerous parents of Daven pupils have kept their children at home after hearing of the second case involving a pupil, and are calling for all pupils to be inoculated against the disease.

Dozens of the parents have already signed a petition calling for the vaccinations. It was started by Nina Buccieri, from Burns Road, who has three children at Daven.

''Parents are getting very panicky, and there are a lot who are going to keep their children off school until something's done,'' she said.

Daven headteacher, Paul Tolley, said he understood parents' concerns, and was due to send a letter to every parent about the latest case.

''However until I receive information to the contrary the health authority is saying the school is safe and children should continue coming to school,'' he said.

Parents were due to voice their concerns at a meeting at Daven this morning, attended by a consultant from South Cheshire Health Authority and a representative from the National Meningitis Trust.

A health authority spokesman said it was ''extremely unlikely'' the infection was spread within the school, as Adam fell ill well before school returned after Christmas, and all 3 victims lived close to each other.

She added Adam fell victim to a group B strain, for which a vaccination did not exist.

''Because evidence so far points to the fact the school is not the source of the transmission, giving antibiotics to pupils at this stage may do more harm than good by killing bacteria in the throat which helps protect against infection,'' she said.

Dr Paul Hunter, a consultant in communicable disease control, encouraged parents to continue sending their children to Daven because the spread of infection appeared not to have taken place within the school, and child to child spread of infection in this age group was uncommon.

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