Britain is on the brink of a ‘children’s epidemic’ of swine flu as schools and nurseries reopen this week. Doctors warned last night the outbreak – already one of the worst in a decade – could ‘explode’ as at least nine million pupils return to their desks after the Christmas break. Hot and crowded classrooms provide the perfect breeding ground for flu, which has claimed 39 lives since October, including 11 under-15s. Some anxious parents are even threatening to keep children at home. Professor Steve Field, former chairman of the Royal College of General Practitioners, warned it will be ‘when people go back to work and school that we will, I suspect, see the sharpest rise, when we really see this become the children’s epidemic’. And Professor John Oxford, Britain’s leading flu expert, said: ‘We can expect the number of cases to keep going up, possibly reaching epidemic levels before it peaks in the next two to four weeks.(Daily Mail)Monday 3 January 2011
Schools put on swine flu alert: As Christmas holidays end, doctors warn of a 'children's epidemic'
Britain is on the brink of a ‘children’s epidemic’ of swine flu as schools and nurseries reopen this week. Doctors warned last night the outbreak – already one of the worst in a decade – could ‘explode’ as at least nine million pupils return to their desks after the Christmas break. Hot and crowded classrooms provide the perfect breeding ground for flu, which has claimed 39 lives since October, including 11 under-15s. Some anxious parents are even threatening to keep children at home. Professor Steve Field, former chairman of the Royal College of General Practitioners, warned it will be ‘when people go back to work and school that we will, I suspect, see the sharpest rise, when we really see this become the children’s epidemic’. And Professor John Oxford, Britain’s leading flu expert, said: ‘We can expect the number of cases to keep going up, possibly reaching epidemic levels before it peaks in the next two to four weeks.(Daily Mail)