There are no new or confirmed cases of meningitis since the death of one Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) student last month, said Health Ministry Deputy Director-General Dr Tee Ah Sian today.

"However, we are keeping a close watch on the situation with the help of the university through our people on the ground," she told malaysiakini .

Since the meningitis scare erupted end of last month, 15 UPM students have been referred to the Kajang Hospital. A wide cross-section of its student population were also screened for the disease and all were tested negative.

Meanwhile the ministry's Disease Control Division director Dr Shafie Ooyub said three of the four students warded in Kajang Hospital for suspected meningitis over the weekend have been discharged.

"As of today, there is only one student still warded. So far, the first reading of the test was negative," he said.

The student went through a naso-phyrangeal swab, a sample taken via a deeper probe into the throat as compared to a normal throat swab. The final test results will be known tomorrow.

Incubation period

Meanwhile, asked to explain the symptoms and treatment for both the viral and bacterial meningitis, the division's deputy director Dr Hassan Abdul Rahman said the disease affects the fluid surrounding the brain.

He said the incubation period for bacterial meningitis is between two and 10 days while for the viral form, it takes about three weeks.

"The difference between the two is more on the onset of the disease or how fast the symptoms develop, which are common to both."

Hassan said the symptoms usually start due to the infection which causes swelling of the membrane covering the brain. This, in turn, causes high fever and headache because of the increasing pressure.

"As the pressure on the brain increases, the patient becomes confused and disoriented before experiencing fits," he said, adding that some types of meningitis have no vaccine.

He also said that vaccination is usually not recommended as a pre-emptive measure because it takes about one week to produce any result whereas antibiotic treatment, which is standard procedure, only takes 24 hours.

Symptoms not shown

Citing studies in the US and Australia, Hassan said between five and 15 percent of a community are people infected with meningococcal meningitis but who don't show the symptoms.

"These are healthy carriers of the disease. It only triggers off the disease in some people. It also cannot survive outside the human body or spread through contact with animals."

The meningitis scare started after two UPM students, Loy Cheah Kee and D Thiyagarajan, died within two days of each other in their rented homes in Taman Bukit Serdang and Taman Balakong Jaya, on June 27 and 29, respectively after exhibiting symptoms of meningitis.

He said 92 close contacts of Loy and Thiyagarajan, including their family, friends and coursemates, have been tested with negative results. About 560 UPM students have been screened in total.

However, only Thiyagarajan was confirmed to have died of meningitis. Loy's body was released for burial before a postmortem could be conducted but the official cause of death was acute pulmonary oedema.

Last Friday, a mass communication student from Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Kanista Mohd Kassim died of meningoencephalitis or brain inflamation, which is a meningitis variant.

Since the scare, about 560 UPM students have been screened for the disease.