Pupils Struck Down - Bug

Pupils struck by mystery bug

Health officials are investigating the outbreak of a mystery illness which
has affected hundreds of pupils at a school.

Around 420 pupils of the 992 who attend Thurso High School in Caithness are
currently off sick, after suffering flu-like symptoms.

Another 155 from Wick High School, which has a roll of 850, have also been
struck down with the bug, as have more than 20 pupils at Wick's Watten
Primary school.

Highland Council has called in public health experts who are examining swabs
to try and identify the bug, which causes sore throats, high temperatures,
headaches and coughing.

Dr Eric Baijal, director of public health medicine at NHS Highland, said:
"This is the time of year that there is an increased incidence of viral
infections of this sort. There are sporadic outbreaks which can be quite
large in various parts of the Highlands.
"Flu-like viruses are liable to be self-limiting and investigations are
being made to identify the cause of the illness."

Helen MacDonald, infection control nurse at the health authority, said the
swab results would not be available until next week.

"In the meantime, we are continuing to monitor the situation," she added.
Gordon Fyffe, spokesman at Highland Council, said: "We have alerted the
public health experts to the high rates of absenteeism, and GPs in the area
have been collecting samples for analysis. While very high proportion of
pupils at Thurso High School have been affected, we are only aware of one
staff member being ill."

He added that there were no plans at present to close any of the schools.

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