PARENTS are being asked to keep their children at home for at least a week if they contract flu.
Deputy medical officer of health Dr Brian Parkin said that some pupils had been returning to school before fully recovering from their symptoms.
This, he said, was putting other youngsters at risk and could lead to further spread of infection.
‘We are advising parents to keep children with flu at home for at least a week because we have had instances where children have returned to school and then have been sent home as they have not yet fully recovered.
‘There is a danger with children returning to school too early that they may infect others and we are trying to prevent the spread in classrooms, so it is worth being off for a week,’ he said.
He said he believed the public had reacted well to the outbreak so far.
Dr Parkin (pictured) added that doctors’ surgeries were looking to extend their opening hours to help speed up the immunisation process.
‘Some surgeries are hoping to run clinics over the weekend so that people can be immunised in a shorter time than would otherwise be possible, so that would involve more staff.’
He said surgeries had received more calls than usual and that advice was being given to patients over the phone.
‘There are no hard and fast rules about it and it is a question of clinical judgement. Obviously, there are patients who need to be seen in person but there may be some people where it is appropriate to deal with them over the phone.
‘I am not aware of any extra staff needing to be brought in to answer the phones in the normal running of the day.’
Dr Parkin said he believed businesses were well prepared for staff shortages.
‘Illness is just one aspect that could affect businesses so I believe companies have experience of dealing with staff shortages.’
Article posted on 20th November, 2009 - 2.29pm
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