Concerned parents want ‘flu-hit’ Loreto Convent closed
Five learners from the Loreto Convent Queenswood School in Pretoria, have been hospitalised with the novel influenza A (H1N1) virus, previously referred to as swine flu.
However, the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) has assured there is no outbreak of the virus in South Africa. The children suffered symptoms such as sudden onset of cough, fever and body pain.
Subsequently, some parents have called for the school to be closed until the scare is over.
Principal Marcello Pallozzi immediately contacted the institute and also sent parents a text to alert them of the situation.
A grandparent of a learner at the school said: “We think the school is not taking this matter seriously. The SMS sent to the parents indicated that only one child had the flu, but now there’s more.
“My grandson was showing signs and we took him to the doctor and strains were traced. Children are now going to go on holidays and I’m afraid they’ll spread the virus.”
Dr Sibongile Walaza, an epidemiologist at the NICD, said there were a number of clusters of influenza cases in schools.
He added that this was not uncommon as children were transmitters of flu. It rarely caused any severe complications in children of a school-going age, according to Walaza.
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