A SCHOOLGIRL feared to have contracted menigococcal septicaemia is recovering at home after being discharged from hospital.

The Year 10 pupil at Martley's Chantry High School - who has not been named - fell ill on Monday morning with a severe headache and sickness.

She was taken to Worcestershire Royal Hospital on Tuesday morning where she was diagnosed as having a form of meningitis and treated with antibiotics.

Dr Alan Tweddell, consultant in communicable disease at the Hereford and Worcester Health Protection Agency, said it was suspected she had menigococcal septicaemia - the most serious form of the disease.

Meningococcal septicaemia is blood poisoning caused by bacteria entering the bloodstream and multiplying uncontrollably.

However, Dr Tweddell said tests were being carried out at the hospital and at a specialist laboratory in Manchester to determine the strain of the disease.

The 15-year-old girl returned home yesterday and family and close friends who were with her at the weekend have been given antibiotics as a precautionary measure.

She is believed to be recovering well. However, headteacher Caroline Browne said the girl - who is under the supervision of a nurse - was unlikely to return to school before the end of term.

She added that parents of the school's 700 pupils were sent letters informing them and outlining the symptoms.

"She is a lovely, well-respected and hard-working girl and we're missing her and send her our best wishes," she said. "We hope to see her back in school."

Dr Tweddell said other pupils had not been treated with antibiotics as they had no reason to believe they would be at increased risk.

"There's definitely no need for people to panic or be worried about it," he said.

Patients suffering from menigococcal septicaemia often develop a rash which starts as a cluster of tiny blood spots and, if untreated, gradually get bigger and become areas of bleeding under the skin surface.

The "bruises" then join together to form large areas of purple skin damage and discolouration.

For more information, contact the Meningitis Trust's 24-hour helpline on 0845 6000800 or visit www.meningitis-trust.org