A SECOND Irish language college in Donegal has been forced to close following an outbreak of swine flu.
Coláiste Bhríde in Rann na Feirste in the northwest of the county will send about 275 students home today after the numbers of pupils in the college with symptoms of the pandemic H1N1 virus increased.
The first students at the college to present with symptoms did so on Sunday night and, as of yesterday morning, more than 20 students had been sent home.
Course principal Frank Ó Maoláin said the situation had deteriorated over a 24-hour period with students in seven or eight more houses which had previously been clear of the virus now presenting with symptoms.
As a result a decision was taken to end the course a few days ahead of schedule.
On Saturday last, Coláiste Mhuire at Loch an Iúir near Dungloe was closed following a similar outbreak, and all 300 students were sent home. It hopes to reopen on Saturday to complete the three-week course.
A number of students have also been sent home from another Gael Linn school at Magheraroarty near Gortahork, as a result of concerns over swine flu but the college has no plans to close.
The Department of Education has devised an information sheet on swine flu for schools and colleges, and it will meet the Health Service Executive (HSE) today to review this before posting it to schools in the coming days.
The guidance, posted on its website, states that if a student develops flu-like symptoms at school, arrangements should be made for him/her to be taken home.
And while waiting to go home, the student should be isolated from other students “but where an eye can be kept on them to ensure that they are all right”.
The student should not return to school until seven days from the onset of symptoms have passed.
The advice sheet continues: “No further action should be taken unless there is a cluster of influenza-like illness, in which case the school/college should seek advice from their local department of public health of the HSE.”
Schools and colleges should continue to operate normally unless advised by their local department of public health in the HSE to do otherwise, it adds.
Furthermore, it says parents should send their children to school in the normal way unless they have flu symptoms.
Schools are also advised there is no requirement for them to invest in masks or any specialised cleaning products or detergents. However, they must ensure adequate facilities for hand washing are available and routine cleaning of facilities takes place. They are also advised to plan where possible for staff absences and consider at what level a school/college may need to close where sufficient staff are not available.
A spokesman for Minister for Education Batt O’Keeffe said the information on the department’s website, which will change on foot of public health advice, addresses a range of scenarios schools may encounter over the coming weeks.
“To augment this communication with schools, the department will be writing to all schools in advance of the new school year to ensure, in particular, that they’re aware of how and where to access information and advice,” he said.
“At this time, public health advice is that schools will open as normal for the new school year,” added Mr O’Keeffe.
An update on the numbers of people presenting to GPs over the past week with symptoms of flu-like illness is expected to be made available later today.
Meanwhile, the Indian city of Mumbai has ordered all schools to close for a week to try to curb the spread of swine flu.
And the World Health Organisation reiterated yesterday that adults and children who are severely ill with H1N1 flu or at high risk of complications should be treated with antivirals like Tamiflu. Its statement followed the publication of research earlier this week by a team of scientists from the University of Oxford which suggested anti-viral drugs such as Tamiflu were unlikely to prevent complications from the virus in young children.