NHS Sheffield has confirmed several cases of swine flu at Byron Wood School. The first case was confirmed on Thursday 18th June and 9 children are reported to have flu-like symptoms. However the Health Protection Agency say that the virus does not appear to be spreading in the school.
The school remains open. The Council is taking advice from the Health Protection Agency but there are no plans to close the school at the moment. Parents are advised to bring their children to school unless they are sick.
Families and close contacts of the children have been offered antiviral drugs.
Parents with sick children should contact the school and the Health Protection Agency will follow up suspected cases.
A spokesperson from the Health Protection Agency said:
“An individual risk assessment is carried out for each confirmed case of swine flu. This is to identify anyone who may have been in close enough contact to catch the virus from them and to decide whether any further public health measures – such as closing schools where there have been clusters of several cases – are necessary to try and limit further spread. These decisions are made on an individual basis, depending on the circumstances of each case.
“For example, the recommendation to close Lydgate Junior School was made to try and limit further spread of the infection because there were a large number of pupils falling ill with flu-like symptoms and there had been no confirmed cases of Swine Flu in the city at that time.
“However, this does not mean we would automatically recommend closing every school which has confirmed cases among its pupils, as, depending on the individual circumstances, school closures could have little impact on limiting the spread of the virus while causing great disruption to pupils and their parents. The situation is changing rapidly on a daily basis and we are now seeing increasing numbers of cases around Sheffield. We will continue to look at each school on a case by case basis and perform risk assessments at each school, taking into account their individual situation and the wider picture.
Health advice from the Health Protection Agency was:
"People with swine flu are most infectious when they have symptoms – particularly if they are coughing or sneezing – and this is why it is important for people to stay at home if they are symptomatic to limit the spread. However, there is no reason for people – even close contacts – to isolate themselves if they do not have any symptoms and it is important to continue with normal everyday activities.”
Councillor Andrew Sangar, Cabinet Member for Children's Services and Lifelong Learning, said:
We're monitoring the situation at Byron Wood School very closely alongside our health colleagues.”
If you think you have swine flu symptoms, contact their GP or NHS Direct on 0845 46 47
For other, up-to-date information, call the Swine Flu Information Line on 0800 1513 513 or see the local NHS website at http://www.sheffield.nhs.uk/swineflu/