Two pupils with swine flu died but Lambeth special needs school stayed open

[thebes]

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) has defended its decision not to advise a Lambeth special needs school to close despite two children from there dying after contracting swine flu.

A girl, nine, and another child, whose details have not been released, who both had underlying health problems, attended the Livity School in Brixton Hill.

Some critics have said a school where so many children had underlying health problems should not have risked the chance of disease spreading between the pupils by staying open.

But a HPA spokeswoman said closing the school would not have prevented the children from contracting swine flu.

She said: ?The children at the school have so much contact with their local communities, closing the school where they go would not have prevented them catching the disease.?

Lambeth Council and the school took the decision to finally close the school on Friday, to allow students to mourn their dead schoolmates.

The council said advice from the HPA was that schools were now to remove students who were showing symptoms iof swine flu but would remain open.

Livity School headteacher Geraldine Lee paid tribute to the pupils who died.

She said: "We have a close bond with all our pupils and their families and we are devastated by this sad news.?

She said representatives from the school had personally updated all parents on the situation, and were giving them all the support possible.

She said public health experts at the HPA, along with GPs, had taken the lead to assess pupils with flu symptoms and treat where appropriate.

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http://www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk/...s_with_swine_flu_died_but_school_stayed_open/

 

[tropical]

Re: Two pupils with swine flu died but Lambeth special needs school stayed open

#1:
"The Health Protection Agency (HPA) has defended its decision not to advise a Lambeth special needs school to close despite two children from there dying after contracting swine flu."


God/.../..., help us ...

 

[german-docter]

Re: Two pupils with swine flu died but Lambeth special needs school stayed open

Policy won?t listen to scientific advice ! :banghead:

http://www.advisorybodies.doh.gov.uk/spi/minutes/sag-modelling-summary-nov2007.pdf

January 2007
Pandemic Influenza Scientific Advisory Group(SAG):
Subgroup on Modelling
Modelling Summary

Note:
The attached document represents the consensus view of the modelling subgroup of the Pandemic Influenza Scientific Advisory Group. It is not a polished report of the group?s deliberations and conclusions. Rather it is a working document, updated after each meeting of the subgroup, to record the group?s advice in a form which can be immediately used to assist in the formulation of policy.
The document is, therefore, focused on those results which directly influence policy. It not only contains statements of what might happen but also the group?s view of the policy implications. This takes the form of notes on ?What we can do now? and ?Policy questions?. However, other factors such as practicality, proportionality and questions of value for money are also important in the generation of an effective policy. These factors are outside the remit of the sub-group. (When relevant, modelling of such factors is the responsibility of the Department of Health?s Analytical teams and similar groups in other government departments). The views of the group should not therefore, be taken as a definitive statement of current government policy but only of the group?s advice based on their own scientific understanding.


? The impact of closing schools, especially without any antiviral intervention, depends critically on the mixing between children and adults. Different plausible models give results suggesting between a 10% and 30% reduction in peak. In either case the reduction in the total number of cases is the range of 10%. Most of this reduction (in the total number of cases) would be in school age children, where the reduction in the number of clinical cases might be as high as 50%. School closure is therefore most usefully employed if children are particularly badly affected.

? Closing schools as an adjunct to antiviral treatment, might reduce the peak of the epidemic by an additional 10% (e.g. taking the most optimistic case, from a 30% reduction in the peak to 40%). The total number of clinical cases might also be reduced by 10%. Again most of this reduction would be in school age children, where the reduction in the number of clinical cases might be as high as 50%.

? Combined with a household prophylaxis policy, closing schools can have an important effect on the profile of the epidemic and the overall number of clinical cases (in adults as well as children).

? Closing schools reactively (after a case of flu in the school) for three weeks produces almost the same effect as longer or more widespread closures. However, a school may have to close a number of times under such a policy and longer or more widespread closures may be more practical. (...)​

Question to be answered by policy:

Which of the quoted "other factors" "such as practicality, proportionality and questions of value for money" are more important than children's lives right now ???

 

[tropical]

Re: Two pupils with swine flu died but Lambeth special needs school stayed open

You are perfectly right G-D.

And about the question at post #3 posed to the policy makers,
it is clear that the "other factors" have nothing to do with "Health Protection", which is the atribute of the advisory agency (post #1).

The worst is that subsequently such wrong and non healthy, non-stoping roaming policy is implemented by the bulk of the countries which previously export the pathogen, and now by the others received it and became a community spreader country also.

All this in a near future without antivirals, and tricky vaccines.
Maybe some countries "ober"-body wants and could change such "lemming" direction which this situation seems starts to going.

 

[Shannon Bennett]

Re: Two pupils with swine flu died but Lambeth special needs school stayed open

This is what happens when the government tells the citizens that H1N1 actually has a lower CFR than does seasonal flu. When you have two children dying from infections or complications from infections from H1N1 then it is time to close the school. It is also time for the government to be a little more forthcoming with the citizens about the danger of pretending the flu isn't really very deadly.

 

[thebes]

Re: Two pupils with swine flu died but Lambeth special needs school stayed open

http://www.southlondon-today.co.uk/...eadline=Livity School pupils die of swine flu

Thursday, 16 July 2009


Livity School has lost two pupils to swine flu

By Greg Truscott

A SPECIAL needs school is in mourning after two of its pupils died from swine flu.

The victims, a girl aged nine and another child whose details have not been made public, died within days of each other after contracting the virus.

They were both pupils at Livity School in Mandrell Road, Brixton.

Teachers, parents and children at the school have been left heartbroken by the double loss.

Headteacher Geraldine Lee told the South London Press: "We have a close bond with all our pupils and their families and we are all devastated."

The loss of the two children brings the swine flu death toll in South London to three.

NHS London has not made details of the latest victim public except to confirm that a child died at St Thomas' Hospital in Lambeth last Wednesday after contracting the virus.

The child is understood to be the second victim from Livity School.

The nine-year-old girl died at the same hospital during the previous weekend.

NHS London has not released more specific details.

Her death came days after a 19-year-old man from Lewisham died after he was taken to hospital after complaining of flu-like symptoms on July 1.

Tests revealed the teenager - who suffered a rare illness that left him with severe chest infections - was infected with the H1N1 virus (swine flu).

Public heath officials have said all three victims had serious underlying health conditions.

Livity School, which closed on Friday, is expected to remain shut for the rest of this week.

A Lambeth council spokeswoman said representatives from the school were keeping parents up to date.

She said public heath experts and GPs were assessing other pupils with flu-like symptoms.


Email: greg.truscott@slp.co.uk

 

[JJackson]

Request for Information

Request for Information

Is anyone aware of any particlular special needs type illnesses that have been associated with particularly severe illness. This is the type of information that is of particular importance to partents of pupils at such schools and seem to be hard to come by. We are far enough in to this pandemic now for there to be enough data to provide correlations between specific illnesses and H1N1(2009) severe cases.

Other than pregnancy and the other seasonal flu risk indicators are there any other know risk factors specific to this pandemic virus?

 

[Shannon Bennett]

Re: Two pupils with swine flu died but Lambeth special needs school stayed open

JJackson, obesity is a risk factor as are diabetes and asthma. Depending on the child and their condition anyone in a wheelchair would be more prone to pneumonia. Again depending on the child in question, how well can they regulate hand-washing techniques and cough and sneeze hygiene?