Published: Friday, 13th November, 2009 11:50am
Local schools gripped by illness
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PARENTS have been urged to stay calm as illness sweeps through the region's schools.
Over 150 pupils are now absent from Biggar High School due to a winter vomiting bug while almost 50 are missing from St Ronan's Primary and 200 from Earlston High School.
So far, one child at both St Ronan's and Earlston has been confirmed as having Swine Flu H1N1.
It is unclear as yet as to how many are absent from Peebles High School.
NHS Borders have stressed that clusters such as these are to be expected as part of the current national pandemic.
Speaking of the absentees from Biggar High School, a spokesperson for South Lanarkshire Council said: "We can confirm that the absence figure for this week at Biggar High School has been roughly double the average for the time of year.
"This appears to have been as a result of a winter vomiting bug.
"There is no evidence to suggest that the reason for absence is swine flu and the school continues to follow NHS guidance in terms of encouraging all staff and pupils to adopt good hygiene practices like washing hands to prevent the spread of germs.
"The school continues to operate as normal."
Meanwhile a letter has been sent by NHS Borders to parents of children at Earlston High School and St Ronan's Primary School regarding the higher-than-normal levels of pupils off sick.
In this letter, parents have been given a list of symptoms to look out for including a high temperature of over 38°C, headache, runny nose, shortness of breath or coughing and diarrhoea or vomiting.
But SBC has stated that due to the high level of flu circulating in the community there is no need to consider closing schools unless staffing levels become affected.
Glenn Rodger, Director of Education at Scottish Borders Council, said: "We are working very closely with NHS Borders at this time and will continue to take their advice throughout the current flu pandemic.
"At this stage, there is no need to close any schools as the pandemic has reached the 'treatment phase' which means, due to the level of flu circulating in communities, it is no longer routinely recommended to close schools in order to try to contain the virus.
"I would urge parents whose children are showing symptoms of flu to keep them at home and follow NHS advice.
"We would only consider closing a school if staffing levels dropped below an acceptable level and all parents would be informed quickly if we reached that stage."
