Bristol parents to get swine flu advice

Bristol parents are to be issued with a letter advising them how to deal with the expected increase in the swine flu pandemic.

Though the number of swine flu cases have dropped during the summer holidays, it is anticipated that numbers will rapidly increase once schools start back again.

A joint letter detailing the latest advice and information about the flu and how to deal with it will be sent from Bristol City Council, the Health Protection Agency and NHS Bristol.

The council stress that if there is a pandemic during the autumn, schools will not close unless there is a serious shortage of staff.

Pupils with swine flu symptoms must stay at home instead, though siblings feeling unwell but without symptoms must continue to come to school.

Director of Public Health NHS Bristol Hugh Annett said: “For most people it is a mild disease. The hygiene advice is the same and parents can help by reinforcing the ‘catch it, bin it, kill it’ message at home.”