[LINK] Swine Flu Advice issued in British Schools

[Leah Manta]

I got a copy of a letter yesterday about Children, Schools and Swine 
Flu and was giggling a little at the confusion.

Without reproducing the entire document here are the interesting, as 
in context as possible, phrases:

Swine Flu and Schools (Draft 1 7/7/09)

Swine Flu is a virus that is particularly affecting children and 
young adults.  Children are proving to be highly efficient carriers 
of the swine flu virus and schools provide the perfect environment 
for it to spread.

School Closures and distribution of antiviral medications for 
prevention are not recommended at this time because the virus is 
widespread in the community. People are likely to be repeatedly 
exposed to the virus in their every day lives, closing a school will 
not help to slow the spread of the virus as people could still be 
exposed outside the school.

It is preferable to avoid exposure to the virus if possible, which 
also helps to protect higher-risk groups from unnecessary 
risk.  However, children should not be kept off school if they are 
well and their school is open.

If your child has the signs and symptoms of swine flu - fever, 
fatigue, lack of appetite, coughing, sore throat, pain in muscles and 
joints, headaches and chills and in some cases vomiting and diarrhoea 
- you should keep your child away from school until they have 
recovered and are free of symptoms.

If your child is prescribed antiviral medicines they should be kept 
at home until they have finished the course.  This is to avoid 
spreading the infection as much as possible.



I hope I don't have to explain what I feel the above points are so juxtaposing!

Don't forget, you carry the virus for 7 to 14 days BEFORE you show 
symptoms and it's during this phase that it is most transferable!

After that, antibodies, hopefully, develop in the carrier and 
symptoms are really signs of the battle between virus and 
antibodies.  The outcome of course will be that the greater the 
symptoms the more the body is battling, the more it's defeating the 
virus.  I understand that most viri aren't contagions after symptoms 
appear as the white cells and antibodies neutralize the virus that is 
"potentially shared"

Oh well!