High Blantyre pupil tested for swine flu virus

Jun 11 2009 by Chris Clements, Hamilton Advertiser

TESTING for swine flu has been carried out on a child at a Lanarkshire primary school this week.

However, despite the scare, the test on the child – believed to be a boy – appears to have come back negative.

Two worried parents contacted the Advertiser separately, saying that the child tested was understood to have been travelling on a Rangers supporters’ bus at the centre of an earlier swine flu scare.

One said: “Rumours were flying on Sunday night, and the story grew and grew. A friend of mine phoned the school on Monday morning at 8.15am and they said they knew nothing about it.

“But within half an hour they were aware that a boy was being tested. It was very worrying.

“We even heard there was more than one child undergoing tests, but we don’t know if that’s true.”

However, High Blantyre Primary’s head teacher Catherine Meechan has allayed parents’ fears, saying that there has been no positive diagnosis of swine flu and that the child in question returned to class.

She said: “The child that was ill did not have swine flu. It was just a virus, but I’m afraid I can’t tell you what the exact illness was. All I hear are what the parents tell me.

“This kind of thing tends to be exaggerated and the rumour spreads very quickly as parents can get worried about their children’s welfare.

“There has definitely been no diagnosis of swine flu at the school, or with anyone connected to the school, at all.

“A boy was tested but he came back negative, and has now returned to class.”

South Lanarkshire Council declined to comment on the matter, but a spokesman for NHS Lanarkshire said: “Lanarkshire currently has one confirmed case of influenza A (H1N1) and 17 possible cases.

“We cannot comment on any individual cases. Healthcare workers are carrying out tests across Lanarkshire where any individuals have been identified following the guidance from Health Protection Scotland.”