Residents on the Island could be carriers of meningitis without even knowing it, claimed well-known paediatrician, Dr. C. Stephen West yesterday.

The claim follows in the wake of news that a toddler had been hospitalised after becoming infected with meningitis.

The child attends the Adventureland Nursery and Pre-School in Warwick.

"There are people walking around Bermuda as carriers," he told The Royal Gazette. "But we do not see cases of the infection often."

This newspaper understands that the toddler, who is expected to make a full recovery, was suffering from a rare but potentially fatal type of meningitis- meningococcal disease.

"I've see only one case of this disease in the last nine years," said Dr. West. "And that was about six years ago."

While he explained that children in Bermuda are immunised for `hib' meningitis, which was very common in the past, there is no vaccination on the Island for the type that the toddler suffered. He added that it was not routinely administered in the US, either.

Dr. West also said although the toddler conDr. West also said although the toddler cotracted the rare disease, physicians will not be able to tell where it originated.

"It will never be known where the child got it," he said, although he confirmed the disease is carried in the nose.

While he said that his office, Wee Care Paediatrics, had seen a slight increase in the volume of calls regarding meningitis, Dr. West wanted to assure parents that the probability of their child catching the disease is minimal.

"People who live in the same home as a person with meningitis have a one percent change of contracting it. However, the odds of his or her playmates contracting meningitis are one in one thousand."