Eight county swine flu cases
Wednesday 1st July 2009, 8:00AM BST.
Eight new cases of swine flu were confirmed in Shropshire today, including a pupil at a Wellington primary school.
The boy, who goes to Dothill Primary School in Severn Drive, was diagnosed with the H1N1 virus after complaining of feeling ill over June 20 and 21. He has been treated with anti-viral drugs and is recovering well at home.
It comes as the Mary Webb Sports Centre in Pontesbury, near Shrewsbury, was closed after a member of staff was diagnosed with swine flu.
A deep clean was carried out at the centre, next to Mary Webb School, which was closed as a precaution to stop the virus spreading.
A total of nine cases have now been disclosed in Shropshire.
The county’s first case was a woman from Telford, believed to be in her 30s, who was struck down with the virus after returning from a trip to the United States.
A schoolgirl from the West Midlands died at the Birmingham Children’s Hospital after contracting swine flu.
She was the third person in the UK to die after being diagnosed with the virus, but it is not yet known whether swine flu caused her death. She is said to have had underlying health problems.
Keiron Larkin, NHS Telford & Wrekin spokesman, said: “There are currently eight confirmed cases of swine flu in Telford & Wrekin.
“I would like to reassure parents NHS Telford & Wrekin has been working closely with the local authority and the Health Protection Agency to ensure the close contacts of the pupil have been treated with Tamiflu, an anti-viral drug.
“The youngster has also been treated with Tamiflu and is responding well and recovering at home.”
Mr Larkin said the HPA had carried out a full risk assessment before deciding the school in Severn Drive should remain open.
He said: “At the moment there are no other confirmed cases at schools in the Telford & Wrekin borough.
“The HPA has not advised any schools in the area should be closed.”
Shropshire Council today stressed the majority of cases in the UK so far have not been severe with those catching the virus making a full and fast recovery.
By Jo Cunningham
Shropshire Star on Twitter
Keep updated with the latest breaking news and content on our Twitter feed.
Lifestyle
Interactive Dining Out map
Hundreds of reviews by the Shropshire Star and Express & Star's teams to help you decide where to eat.
Entertainment
All the film reviews
Before you plan a trip to the pictures, get our critics' verdicts on all the latest movie releases.
OUR NEW APP
Get the new Shropshire Star app
Download the Shropshire Star’s new app to your iPad or iPhone to get one week of access to our digital newspapers absolutely FREE.
shropshirestar.com
Popular sections
Useful links
i go to this school and it yhas not been closed
Report abuse
“tom jones” … I’m glad they teach you well at your school, I just wish they would teach you to read correctly! Where does it say the school is closed?
Report abuse
TOM JONES: LOOKS LIKE YOU COULD DO WITH GOING BACK THERE – WHERE DOES IT SAY ABOUT THE SCHOOL BEING CLOSED.
Report abuse
Dear Tom, As far as schools closing following an outbreak of swine flu all I can say is, It’s not unusual!
Report abuse
IF you read the above news aricle it does not say that the school was closed but If you read the young mans comment between the lines? ( which after all isnt that what we were all taught at school) you may understand that the young man is possibly stating his concern that the school has not been closed where as the sports centre has !!! GROW UP!!
Report abuse
In actual fact asitis perhaps if you read the context carefully enough!!!! you will see that Tom doesnt need to go back there he already attends there!
Report abuse
#2 and #3, was Tom, perhaps, just letting us know that, despite an occurrence of swine flu at the school, it had not been deemed necesary to close it?
Report abuse
“was closed after a member of staff was diagnosed with swine flu” I think that says it’s closed! idiots! you need to go back to school and learn to read and not be mean to kids!
Report abuse
If you notice it looks like tom is asking why has it not been closed ? so i say to you both u need to go back to school.
Report abuse
virgil and asitis: How do you know that Tom is not just stating that the school has not been closed despite a case of swine flu amongst it’s pupils?
Report abuse
ACCTUALLY, Mary Webb Sports Centre is a secondary school so dont judge
Report abuse
tom jones stop bunking off school and using the internet during school hours get back to work or ill report you to the truancy officer
Report abuse
It might not say anything about the school being closed but it should be. Why do some people have to make snide comments dont worry tom they have nothing better to do, there thats my snide commentto the others.
Report abuse
Virhil & asitis: You need to learn to read between the lines!
Report abuse
1)…”Mandy”… It is impossible to read between the lines as it’s a single , one line sentence! D’oh!
2)… “jade jones” … I think, if you read correctly it states the “Mary Webb Sports Centre” was closed not Mary Webb school! D’oh!
3)…”matty” … If you look closely you will se that Tom has clipped the letter Y as he has typed the H for “has” and is not actually asking a question! D’oh!
4)… “fairy” Actually Mary Webb sports centre is not a school … It is a community sports centre attached to Mary Webb secondary school!D’oh!
5)…”marco”… Thanks for the laugh! I think you need to go back to school to learn to spell! Double D’oh for you! look at your spelling of Virhil Hahahaha!
Report abuse
Emma: Its not my fault that he spells his name incorrectly!
Report abuse
marco#14 (or is it maro#16),
It is your fault, however, if you spell your own name incorrectly! I do hope that was deliberate!
I am also amused that a story about swine flu in the county and a single boys comment have produced 15 (make that 16) comments that are more about the English language than about swine flu. The hot weather has obviously caused people to spend more time adding comments to this site than working! (myself included)
Report abuse
If there has been an outbreak of pig flu then maybe it should be closed, I dont blame Tom Jones for being concerned, if selfish parents didn’t send their kids to schools when they’re ill then maybe it wouldn’t spread so much…
Report abuse
KEEP YOUR KIDS OFF SCHOOL WHEN THEY’RE ILL….DONT BE SELFISH!!!
Report abuse
So.
Tom posts a one line comment about the school not being closed, and sixteen other comments spark off that are just – well – noise, really.
I suspect Tom’s original post has been modded, and now both his original post and the subsequent comments have been rendered meaningless.
Well done, Star IT Police.
Report abuse
“I suspect Tom’s original post has been modded, and now both his original post and the subsequent comments have been rendered meaningless.”
Wrong! We never touched it.
Star IT Police
Report abuse
i go 2 mary webb and i have swine flu because of this it was closed not the school the sports center ppl need 2 get ova it im ok nw an bk at school
Report abuse