The sudden death of Southern Gyspey Queen drummer Paul Wilson and hospital treatment of Springbok rugby player Schalk Burger last week sparked fears of a possible meningitis outbreak.
Wilson, 29, died on Wednesday, reportedly from a heart attack, while he was being treated for meningitis at Molteno Hospital in the Eastern Cape.
The next day, Burger - who contracted bacterial meningitis following an operation on a calf muscle nerve - was discharged from a Cape Town hospital.
A top Johannesburg school notified parents on Thursday that a pupil had been diagnosed with meningitis.
The principal's letter stated: "We have just been informed by a Grade 2 parent that her daughter has been diagnosed with viral meningitis and is hospitalised."
Parents were advised to seek immediate medical attention for children displaying the symptoms.
Earlier this month, Durban High School pupil Madodandile Mavaleliso collapsed during a school rugby match. He later died in hospital. It was suspected that he had meningitis.
However, experts warned against panic. Deputy director at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases Professor Lucille Blumberg said: "These are single cases in unrelated persons."
She added there was greater risk of meningitis with flu infections and the approaching winter.
Meningitis is an infection of the protective membranes around the brain and spinal cord. It may develop in response to a number of causes - usually bacteria, viruses and fungal infections.
Symptoms include a stiff neck, headache, drowsiness, vomiting, fever, eyes sensitive to bright light, irritability, loss of appetite and flu-like symptoms.
Gauteng education spokesman Charles Phahlane said the Health Department was dedicated to ensuring that health risks at schools were eliminated.
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