With at least two people having died of bacterial meningitis in less than a week, the city's health director said there was no need for alarm and that most carriers of the killer disease get cured.
Ivan Toms, Cape Town's director of health, said on Thursday that there was an increase in cases of the disease during winter months, but that this was normal as people were more prone to colds and flu which are accompanied by a lot of sneezing.
He spoke after a Gordon's Bay girl and a man from Mitchell's Plain died of bacterial meningitis shortly after they had been admitted to hospital.
The disease causes inflammation of the membranes covering the spinal cord or the brain, and is very contagious.
"The occurrence of meningococcal meningitis tends to go up in winter. This happens internationally and is cyclical.
"A carrier can pass the disease onto others through droplets that come from sneezing, and most - about 90 percent of carriers - don't die. Most people who get meningococcal meningitis do get cured. This is not an epidemic," Toms said.
A Mitchell's Plain father of six, Ridwaan Abrahams died on June 21, moments after he had been admitted to Groote Schuur Hospital.
Four days later 12-year-old Porchia Fredericks of Temperance Town in Gordon's Bay died in the Red Cross Children's Hospital after she had complained of a sore throat.
On Thursday Abrahams's wife, Kashiefa, said that they had not suspected he had meningitis and that her husband consulted a doctor a day after complaining of a severe headache.
"Before Sunday everything was still fine. He was not a person who had headaches but it started suddenly and Ridwaan started having cold shivers.
"Although was quite ill he still went to mosque. When I took him to a doctor the next day he was very weak and held onto me as we walked.
"He kept holding his head in his hands. The doctor gave him two injections and referred him hospital where he died died soon after being admitted," Abrahams said.
She said the hospital took a sample of her husband's blood for testing, and to establish whether the family needed treatment as a precaution.
"Our doctor has also promised to do a follow-up check on us," she said.
Toms said between 5 percent and 10 percent of the 42 cases in the city over the past year had resulted in fatalities. He advised people to look out for the symptoms and to consult a doctor or go to their nearest hospital immediately.
"A sudden onset of fever, stiff neck, nauseousness and vomiting and a petechial rash (little red spots on the body) are the main symptoms. As it progresses, it could lead to delirium, confusion and even coma.
"When someone is diagnosed and treated, we usually follow up by giving antibiotics to those who are in close contact with the carrier," he said.