Primary pupil confirmed as swine flu victim

A TEN-year-old pupil from Rhu primary school has been confirmed as having contracted swine flu.

Parents of children in primary five were personally phoned by the headteacher, Miss Milne, who asked them to attend a meeting at the school at 10am on Monday.

They were informed at the meeting that there would be no closure of the school, and even the primary five pupils would still be expected to attend, with the exception of the pupil suffering from the H1N1 virus.

One parent said: 'When we went into the meeting there were at least six school nurses, a GP who took questions from the parents and a pharmacist.'

The children remained in the same room as the parents were briefed about the illness.

Following this, the children were weighed to determine the dosage of Tamiflu they received.

There were a range of questions from parents, some asked why the school hadn"t been closed and the kids in Primary 5 five sent home; others were asking if the Tamiflu they were being given was effective.

A lot of parents wanted to know if siblings needed to take Tamiflu as well, but we were told there was no need.

Our source said: 'In some ways it was scary, when we went in there was a fairly imposing table with medical staff who had bottles of hand sanitiser and piles of packets of pills.

'We are reasoned about the whole thing though, we have other medical conditions within the family so we know it"s important for us to take the Tamiflu we have been given, although some parents said they thought it was a waste of time giving them the drugs.'

She added that the parents were not told at the meeting which member of the class had contracted the infection, of which there are almost 700 confirmed cases in Scotland, nor were they told how the child had contracted it, but praised the headteacher for dealing with it quickly and notifying parents.

A spokesperson for Argyll and Bute Council confirmed the case.

She said: 'The school has not closed following advice from NHS Highland and Health Protection Scotland. A letter has gone to all parents with children attending the school.'

Schools close for the holiday on Tuesday.