Tanya Katterns writes in the Dominion Post about a highly contagious virus, thought to be H1N1 flu, which is emptying schools of their pupils in the Wairarapa.
Thus far, 300 pupils and 20 staff/teachers are at home with the virus, and Wellington Regional Public Health Service is urging that any children showing symptoms be sent home immediately to try contain the outbreak.
An excerpt: (read in full here)
“Swabs have been taken from sufferers to try to pinpoint the type of virus. Medical officer of health Annette Nesdale said everything pointed to a particularly severe influenza outbreak.
“”The pattern we are seeing throughout the schools is consistent with influenza, which is likely to be the swine flu strain. High temperature, chills, headache, nausea and some vomiting and diarrhoea is what we are seeing. It is pretty miserable.”
“No-one had been sent to hospital because of the Wairarapa outbreak.
“Dr Nesdale said Wellington had so far had isolated clusters of influenza but nothing like the levels of infection in Wairarapa.
“Nationwide, most reported influenza-type viruses this year had been swine flu.”