Reminiscent of the dreadful SARS experience two years ago, some people are alarmed by the possibility of contracting meningitis during winter.

China reported a total of 258 cases nationwide in the first month of the year, a rise of 94 from the same period in 2004, with a death toll of about 16.

Roughly during the same period of 2003, people were in the dark about SARS and its possible impact.

Months later, the deadly disease had proved ruthless and killed hundreds.

But we have no cause for the same magnitude of fear this time. Meningitis, however severe it is, is not a new epidemic and we have sufficient precautions to guard against it.

As long as we are serious about its prevention and treatment, a large-scale spread and heavy death tolls are avoidable.

Meningitis is an acute infectious disease although much less contagious than SARS and is most often caused by bacterial or viral infections of the membranes around the brain and spinal cord.

Humans have long had vaccines to prevent it.

Meningitis used to be caused by the so-called group A of meningitis diplococcus, a kind of bacteria.

But China has become able to control it since a nationwide inoculation programme for children was launched in 1984.

The current epidemic in East China's Anhui Province, the most heavily hit region, was caused by group C bacteria, which is more mobile and difficult to control.

However, a special A+C vaccine can be used to combat its spread.

We are in a much better situation than 2003's SARS crisis, when vaccines were unavailable.

Moreover, the tragic SARS crisis has left us with a valuable heritage of an efficient rapid response medical system that is able to cope with emergencies.

Now, the urgent task is to ensure that new meningitis cases are promptly treated to contain its further spread.

Co-ordination is vital. Take vaccines, for example. In some places, there are more than enough vaccines and few meningitis cases are reported. But in other areas, supply falls short of potential demand.

A proper information sharing system that covers the whole country should be put into place to direct the allocation of vaccines in a more efficient way.

Timely disclosure of information is the most important factor in fighting an epidemic, which can cause great public panic.

This is the dearest lesson we have learned from SARS.

The Ministry of Health says the meningitis situation is not serious enough to release a daily report.

Equipped with high-profile medical experts, the ministry is technically capable to make such a decision, it says.

Health authorities should be aware that citizens are not as informed as ministry experts. They are easily ruffled, given the large number of infections.

Meningitis cases, during this epidemic, have been found in all of the mainland's provinces and regions except Hainan, Fujian and the Tibet Autonomous Region.

So it is the duty of health authorities to inform the public in a timely manner, to dispel their blind dismay.

(China Daily February 2, 2005)