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.