A three year old boy from Cookstown, Co Tyrone, is being treated for meningitis at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast. He was admitted in a critical condition on Tuesday with bacterial meningitis but has since improved to ill but stable".
Last month, a 14 year old boy from Donaghadee, Co Down, died from meningitis and, in December, a Derry baby died shortly after being discharged from hospital. There were 158 reported cases of the disease in the North last year and about 12 people die annually from the disease.