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London
Address Details
Health Protection Agency
South East London
Health Protection Unit
1 Lower Marsh
London
SE1 7NT
Date Tel 0203 049 4338
Fax 0207 633 9734
www.hpa.org.uk
Dear Head Teacher / Manager,
This letter is to update you on swine flu and provide you with some resources that may be helpful in
dealing with swine flu.
Swine flu is now widespread in the local community and you should be prepared for cases of swine
flu at your school or nursery in the coming months. It is important to point out that most people who
have swine flu make a quick recovery at home.
We are now in a ‘treatment phase’ for swine flu and national guidance has been updated so that
school and nursery closures to prevent the transmission of flu are only likely in exceptional
circumstances, and preventative antivirals drugs will no longer be routinely offered to large groups of
school and nursery pupils. As swine flu is now circulating more freely in the local community, the
original measures of providing preventative antiviral drugs are no longer effective, as people may be
exposed to the virus outside the school or nursery, or as soon as they have finished a course of
drugs.
Planning for swine flu
There are many actions you can take to plan for swine flu, including making plans for how you would
cope when staff go off sick or have to care for others who are sick.
Good hygiene is vital to reduce flu transmission. This includes the following:
•
Covering nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing, using a tissue when possible;
•
Disposing of dirty tissues promptly and carefully;
•
Washing hands frequently with soap and water to reduce the spread of the virus from hands
to face or to other people;
• Cleaning hard surfaces (such as door handles) frequently using a normal cleaning product.
In advance of having cases of swine flu at your school or nursery, you can ensure that facilities for
good hygiene in the school or nursery are optimised (see enclosed checklist) and you can raise
awareness of the above measures with children. The HPA website has links to ‘ebug’ educational
resources for children that may be useful (www.e-bug.eu).
This may be an ideal opportunity to ensure that the school or nursery general infection control
policies are up to date, staff are aware of correct procedures, good handwashing facilities are
available for staff and children, and cleaning of the school environment (particularly
handwashing/toilet facilities) is of a high standard as these measures can help reduce the potential
for transmission of infection (including swine flu) within the school or nursery. The resource list has
links to further information (e.g. http://www.bog-standard.org/ which gives advice on toilet
hygiene). It may also be useful to refer to the infection control section in the updated version of
School Health Matters which can be found on the HPA website (see enclosed flyer).
Responding to cases
If you do have cases of swine flu amongst children or staff, we have included in the resource pack a
checklist of actions that you should take. These include optimising hygiene measures, alerting
parents and excluding those who have symptoms. There are also posters for display included in the
pack and the HPA has worked with the DCSF who have provided a template letter that can be
distributed to parents and staff (amend as indicated in the letter before sending). This letter is
available from: http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/_doc/14123/Model%20letter%201.doc
The most important advice is that children who have symptoms of flu-like illness should stay away
from the school or nursery and not mix with others outside the home (e.g. in crèches or group
social/sports activities) until they have recovered and are free of symptoms. This is to avoid
spreading the infection as much as possible. Parents of children with suspected swine flu are
advised to call the National Pandemic Flu Service on 0800 15 13 100 or at:
www.direct.gov.uk/pandemicflu (this is outlined in the enclosed template letter to parents). More
information on swine flu and its symptoms is available at www.nhs.uk or by calling the Swine Flu
Information Line on 0800 1 513 513.
Certain groups are advised to contact their doctor rather than use the National Pandemic
Influenza Service. These are: people with a serious underlying illness; pregnant women; children
under one year of age; people whose condition suddenly gets worse, or those whose condition is still
getting worse after 7 days (5 days for a child).
There is specific advice for pregnant teachers provided by the Health Protection Agency:
http://www.hpa.org.uk/web/HPAwebFile/HPAweb_C/1247816542464) and guidance for schools
on pandemic flu is available from the Department for Children, Schools and Families via the
teachernet website: http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/emergencies/planning/flupandemic/. Up to
date information regarding swine flu vaccination is available from
http://www.immunisation.nhs.uk/ and
http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publichealth/Flu/Swineflu/InformationandGuidance/Vaccinationprog
ramme/index.htm.
These links can also be found in the resource information sheet.
We appreciate that normally schools and nurseries would contact South East London Health
Protection Unit for advice on outbreaks of infectious disease. However, these are exceptional times
and during the pandemic you do not need to inform the HPU routinely about swine flu cases,
unless:
•
You have an outbreak of swine flu and have significant numbers of children with underlying
disease (such as in special schools)
•
Any staff or children are requiring critical care in hospital due to swine flu.
•
You feel that you need further advice
If any of these situations occur, please call the South East London Health Protection Unit on
020 3049 4338.
We would also like to direct you to the Health Protection Agency website (www.hpa.org.uk) which
has a wealth of information. Please click on the ‘swine flu’ section and under the ‘topics menu’, go to
‘swine flu: advice for the public’.
Yours sincerely,
South East London Health Protection Unit