Children kept home as seven-year-old hit with swine flu
Health authorities have confirmed that the child, who is in first class in Breaffy National School and believed to be from Balla near Castlebar, was diagnosed with the infection late on Thursday night.
The youngster had been showing signs of the virus and had been absent from school on Thursday in order to undergo tests, which confirmed the seven-year-old as the 16th Irish person to become infected.
While the child is not seriously ill and is being cared for outside of hospital, due to the risk of further infections parents, whose children were in the same class as the seven-year-old, received texts from school authorities yesterday asking them not to send their children to school and to closely monitor signs of any potential symptoms.
Some parents with children in other classes also temporarily withdrew them from the school yesterday.
In a statement confirming the case, a Department of Health spokesperson said: “We can confirm that an additional case has been identified as a positive case of Influenza A (H1N1). The child is being cared for at home. All contacts have been traced and all necessary health measures are being taken.”
There have been 16 cases of swine flu in Ireland, including three since Thursday. Two of the confirmed cases involve children in the west of the country.
Separately, another case of swine flu was confirmed in Northern Ireland yesterday, bringing the number of confirmed cases there to 14.
The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety said the latest case involved a woman who recently returned from the US. She is understood to have mild flu symptoms and is recovering at home.
A further eight people are under investigation in the North over fears they have also contracted the virus.
To date almost 40,000 cases of swine flu have been confirmed in 83 countries worldwide, with 167 people dying from the virus.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
