Fears at school swine flu scare (From Milford Mercury)

Fears at school swine flu scare

2:49pm Friday 10th July 2009

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A suspected case of swine flu at Pembroke School has created waves of panic in the town.

The case was reported to the school’s headteacher Frank Ciccotti after pupils had gone home on Tuesday evening.

Yesterday (Wednesday) morning he used the school’s tannoy system to announce the case to pupils at the start of the day, and urged them not to panic.

It is believed the outbreak is currently confined to one staff member who works in the unit for pupils with special educational needs.

The parents of these children have been contacted and asked to be be vigilant for flu-like symptoms.

Despite the headteacher’s plea for calm, by Wednesday afternoon the school had suffered what he described as a “mass exodus”, with several hundred pupils being taken home by parents.

Pembrokeshire County Council’s contact centre and local doctors’ surgeries have also been inundated with calls and visits from concerned parents.

Another source at the school said that pupils had “left the school in droves”. The school remains open on the advice of the National Public Health Service for Wales (NPHS).

“We are running everything as normal,” said Mr Ciccotti. “People keeping healthy children at home should be aware that the pandemic is not expected to peak until autumn. Any absence will be treated as an unauthorised absence. There is no reason for those children to be at home.”

A letter to parents was being taken home by children who remained at the school yesterday and was posted on the school website.

A worried mother who contacted the Mercury on Wednesday said she was angry that parents had not been informed first and that the school had not been closed. She said she was informing as many people as possible.

“My children phoned me and they were really worried,” she said. “I’m really angry that the school didn’t tell parents directly.”

Pembrokeshire County Council confirmed that a member of staff at the school is currently resting at home after becoming ill with flu-like symptoms.

Mr Ciccotti confirmed that the woman is being treated for swine flu, but she had not had laboratory tests to confirm that the strain of flu she has is definitely swine flu.

l Performances of the musical Fame will still take place at the school tonight and tomorrow.

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