Swine flu schools all due to reopen

12 April 2012

Several schools at the centre of the UK swine flu outbreak are reopening as the number of confirmed cases topped 50.

Seven further cases in England took the total number of confirmed cases in the UK to 55 on Sunday and hundreds of others are still being investigated.

Alleyn's School in Dulwich, south-east London, Paignton Community and Sports College in Devon, Downend School in South Gloucestershire and the Dolphin School in Battersea, south London, will all reopen.

But Hampton School, an independent boys school in Middlesex which has more than 1,000 pupils aged 11-18, said it was closing this week after a pupil was diagnosed with influenza A infection.

A statement on the school's website said the case was not yet confirmed as swine flu but further tests were being carried out and the child was recovering well at home.

Exams at the school will continue as normal, it said.

On Sunday, the Health Protection Agency (HPA) confirmed swine flu in three adults and four children in England.

A HPA spokeswoman said one adult from the east of England and another from London were in contact with previously confirmed cases.

A second adult from London and all four children "were swabbed last week and may have acquired their infection before the closure of their school", she said. The spokeswoman went on: "Since then, antivirals have been given to all children and staff as a precautionary measure."

A Department of Health spokeswoman added: "So far, all infections in the UK have been mild, and cases have been diagnosed and treated early. This reduces the severity of symptoms, and helps to limit the spread. But we must not be complacent."

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