http://www.birminghammail.net/news/...19-new-cases-in-west-midlands-97319-23842866/
Swine flu: 19 new cases in West Midlands
Jun 11 2009
A swine flu victim was in intensive care at Birmingham City hospital last night as health officials announced there were 19 new cases of the virus in the region.
Two children at the Birmingham Children?s hospital were also being treated in isolation for the virus. Two members of staff from the hospital have been sent home to recover after picking up suspected swine flu. The children were admitted to the hospital for illnesses unrelated to the outbreak, the hospital said. (does this mean the children picked up the virus in the hospital?)
Meanwhile, it was claimed that opportunities to halt a swine flu epidemic before it swept through a Birmingham primary school were missed.
The Health Protection Agency admitted it failed to close Welford Primary School when dozens of youngsters were struck down with the bug because they thought it was a different illness.
The Handsworth school was the scene of the UK?s largest outbreak with 96 confirmed cases. The school has reopened after the half-term break allowed pupils to be treated ? but a further three are closed nearby. At a public meeting last night to discuss the spread of the H1N1 virus, Coun Paulette Hamilton said the HPA had been too slow and allowed the flu to spread. ?The first cases started emerging on Monday and Tuesday but nothing was done until the Thursday,? she said. ?The HPA say they didn?t know what the bug was but warnings of a pandemic were all over the news. By the time they did act, it was too late and that is why it has been able to spread to other schools.?
Birmingham?s director of public health, Dr Jacky Chambers, told the meeting that when children started to fall ill at Welford no decision was made to close the school because doctors thought it was a stomach bug or respiratory virus. ?Welford was an unusual case,? she said. ?We believed it may have been an outbreak of norovirus or a gastro bug. What we are trying to do now is make sure we don?t have another Welford.?
Dr Chambers said it was believed cases had spread from Welford to nearby schools.
Birchfield Community School, in Trinity Road, Aston, Heathfield Primary, in Heathfield Road, Handsworth, and St James Primary, in Sandwell Road, also Handsworth, will be closed until next week. At least eight cases have been diagnosed across the three schools.
The HPA last night refused to confirm whether any of the 19 new cases were linked to the schools. A fourth school, the private Darul Uloom Islamic High School and College in Small Heath, has been closed since Monday.
On Monday, it was revealed that two cases have been linked to Hollyhead Secondary School, in Handsworth, although it has remained open.
The meeting of West Handsworth Neighbourhood Forum also heard concerns that not enough had been done to warn non-English speakers of swine flu. Leaflets have been delivered to every home but were printed only in English.
It emerged yesterday that a 14-year-old boy was diagnosed with the virus at Malvern College, Worcestershire. The co-educational boarding school has not been closed. Headmaster Antony Clark said: ?We can confirm that one of our pupils has tested positive for swine influenza, and a further two pupils are being tested for the virus. All three pupils are in isolation.?
Swine flu: 19 new cases in West Midlands
Jun 11 2009
A swine flu victim was in intensive care at Birmingham City hospital last night as health officials announced there were 19 new cases of the virus in the region.
Two children at the Birmingham Children?s hospital were also being treated in isolation for the virus. Two members of staff from the hospital have been sent home to recover after picking up suspected swine flu. The children were admitted to the hospital for illnesses unrelated to the outbreak, the hospital said. (does this mean the children picked up the virus in the hospital?)
Meanwhile, it was claimed that opportunities to halt a swine flu epidemic before it swept through a Birmingham primary school were missed.
The Health Protection Agency admitted it failed to close Welford Primary School when dozens of youngsters were struck down with the bug because they thought it was a different illness.
The Handsworth school was the scene of the UK?s largest outbreak with 96 confirmed cases. The school has reopened after the half-term break allowed pupils to be treated ? but a further three are closed nearby. At a public meeting last night to discuss the spread of the H1N1 virus, Coun Paulette Hamilton said the HPA had been too slow and allowed the flu to spread. ?The first cases started emerging on Monday and Tuesday but nothing was done until the Thursday,? she said. ?The HPA say they didn?t know what the bug was but warnings of a pandemic were all over the news. By the time they did act, it was too late and that is why it has been able to spread to other schools.?
Birmingham?s director of public health, Dr Jacky Chambers, told the meeting that when children started to fall ill at Welford no decision was made to close the school because doctors thought it was a stomach bug or respiratory virus. ?Welford was an unusual case,? she said. ?We believed it may have been an outbreak of norovirus or a gastro bug. What we are trying to do now is make sure we don?t have another Welford.?
Dr Chambers said it was believed cases had spread from Welford to nearby schools.
Birchfield Community School, in Trinity Road, Aston, Heathfield Primary, in Heathfield Road, Handsworth, and St James Primary, in Sandwell Road, also Handsworth, will be closed until next week. At least eight cases have been diagnosed across the three schools.
The HPA last night refused to confirm whether any of the 19 new cases were linked to the schools. A fourth school, the private Darul Uloom Islamic High School and College in Small Heath, has been closed since Monday.
On Monday, it was revealed that two cases have been linked to Hollyhead Secondary School, in Handsworth, although it has remained open.
The meeting of West Handsworth Neighbourhood Forum also heard concerns that not enough had been done to warn non-English speakers of swine flu. Leaflets have been delivered to every home but were printed only in English.
It emerged yesterday that a 14-year-old boy was diagnosed with the virus at Malvern College, Worcestershire. The co-educational boarding school has not been closed. Headmaster Antony Clark said: ?We can confirm that one of our pupils has tested positive for swine influenza, and a further two pupils are being tested for the virus. All three pupils are in isolation.?