A teenage student is lucky to be alive after being sent home from a walk-in medical centre despite showing the early signs of meningitis.

Frederick McNeill is today recovering at his Hove home after developing the B strain of the disease.

His father Duncan is now urging people to stand their ground and not take no for an answer if they are worried about their health.

Frederick, 19, a first-year student at Exeter University, fell ill last Wednesday and visited the student health centre on the university campus.

He was told to take himself to hospital for a check-up and visited the walk-in centre, based in the grounds of the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital.

Despite telling staff he had a severe headache and a rash, he was told it was a viral infection, given medication and told to go home.

In the early hours of Thursday morning, Frederick became violently ill with a severe headache and vomiting.

His flatmates took him to the accident and emergency department at the hospital where he was rushed into intensive care and treated for meningitis.

Mr McNeill said: "When we spoke to him on Wednesday night he said he had a rash and was feeling ill but we were not to worry because he had been told it was a viral infection.

"The next thing we got a phone call from the hospital at 6.45am the following morning.

"Earlier on the Wednesday he was showing the signs of meningitis. He was a new student at university, where there can often be a risk of the disease, yet he still wasn't checked for it.

"Once he was in hospital the treatment he got was tremendous and they were very good to him but he only just made it in time.

"Another half an hour and he could have died. I know they say it can be difficult to diagnose but surely they should have taken all this into account.

"We are very lucky. My son is still very ill but at least he is recovering now.

"I want to warn people to stand their ground if they or a relative or friend are feeling ill.

"If you are worried then insist on a test or at least stay put in the hospital for a while so you are in the right place."

Dr Vaughan Rosser from Exeter Primary Care Trust, which runs the centre, said: "We cannot comment on individual cases due to reasons of patient confidentiality.

"However, in general terms, meningitis can be extremely difficult to diagnose in its early stages and symptoms can advance rapidly. This is particularly true of the bacterial strain, known as meningococcal meningitis.

"We are confident our staff followed all the correct procedures in this instance but we are sorry if the patient concerned felt let down by our service."

There have been three cases of suspected meningitis in East Sussex during the past two weeks.

Sixteen-year-old Bexhill High School pupil Francesca Ward died after contracting the B strain of the disease while fellow pupil Jason Brett-Andrews, 14, is recovering from suspected meningococcal septicaemia.

A 14-year-old girl from Claverham High School in Battle is also recovering after being treated for suspected meningococcal septicaemia.

The symptoms of meningitis include severe headache, stiff neck, fever, vomiting, drowsiness, discomfort of bright lights, back and joint pains and a rash that does not turn white when pressed.

Anyone worried about the disease can contact the National Meningitis Trust's 24-hour helpline on 0845 6000800.