Oh No ...... I have just read

[neesy]

That 17 schools have closed in the UK (Midlands) because of a sickness going around and the schools are being closed to be disinfected! This is a flu, sickness & diarreah thing they are saying could spead across the country!


Just when I thought it was all nearly over!


Now I am worried![img]smileys/smilies_06.gif[/img]

[kylie_0607]

I know I read the same thing and it has also sent me into a panic!

[neesy]

Where do you live Kylie? I am in Essex so its no where near me but has still worried me!

[kylie_0607]

Im London very close to essex it scares me a lot my bf told me and he was like dont worry if it happens it happens, I wish I could be like that!

[neesy]

Do you think the media exaggerate these things tho?

[neesy]

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=629>
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<TD colSpan=3>
<DIV class=mxb>
<DIV class=sh>This is the article I have read since reading it in the paper:</DIV>
<DIV class=sh></DIV>
<DIV class=sh>City's sickness outbreak spreads </DIV></DIV></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD vAlign=top width=416>An outbreak of sickness and diarrhoea, which has seen children and staff sent home and schools closed, is hitting more sites in Birmingham.


Up to 40 schools have been affected, with 17 expected to be closed on Friday and some already announcing they will stay shut into next week.


The number of schools closed has risen through the week.


The outbreak has also affected schools in parts of the Black Country, Shropshire and Staffordshire.


Symptoms suffered includes vomiting, high fevers, diarrhoea and lethargy.



<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=208 align=right>
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<TR>
<TD width=5></TD>
<TD class=sibtbg>
<DIV class=sih>BIRMINGHAM'S CLOSED SCHOOLS </DIV>
<DIV class=mva>
<DIV class=bull>Benson Community Primary, Hockley</DIV>
<DIV class=bull>Birches Green Junior, Erdington</DIV>
<DIV class=bull>Birches Green Infant, Erdington</DIV>
<DIV class=bull>Birchfield Community Primary, Aston</DIV>
<DIV class=bull>Grove Primary, Handsworth</DIV>
<DIV class=bull>Hawthorn Primary, Kingstanding</DIV>
<DIV class=bull>Leigh Primary, Washwood Heath</DIV>
<DIV class=bull>Mansfield Green, Aston</DIV>
<DIV class=bull>Matthew Boulton Community Primary, Handsworth</DIV>
<DIV class=bull>Perry Beeches Junior, Great Barr</DIV>
<DIV class=bull>Prince Albert's Primary, Aston</DIV>
<DIV class=bull>Stechford Primary, Stechford</DIV>
<DIV class=bull>Summerfield Primary, Winson Green</DIV>
<DIV class=bull>St Matthew's CE Junior and Infants, Nechells</DIV>
<DIV class=bull>Ward End Primary, Ward End</DIV>
<DIV class=bull>Watville Primary, Handsworth</DIV>
<DIV class=bull>Welsh House Farm Community Primary, Quinton</DIV>
<DIV class=bull>World's End Junior, Quinton</DIV></DIV></TD></TR></T></TABLE>


Birmingham City Council said most children have been off school between two and four days, with one child admitted to hospital.


Parents are asked to make sure children are free of all symptoms for 24 hours before sending youngsters back to school.


Schools have been told to notify unexplained increases in absences to the Health Protection Unit and the city council.


A council spokesman said: "Information on the infections and outbreaks has been sent to local GPs and schools.


"Parents of affected children have been advised to keep their children off school, make sure they rest and drink plenty of fluids, use paracetamol and/or ibuprofen to reduce high temperatures and keep good hand hygiene."















</TD></TR></T></TABLE>

[cloughie]

Hi my name is carol i am 45 years of age and have been an emet for 30 years. This is my first post. I live in the Midlands so see the news a few times a day. The schools have been closing down over the last five days to be disinfected. An expert came on and said that this outbreak isNOT as big as previous years.I have stayed in all week. I am very nervous but have been reminded that i have never caught it before and if it is a smaller outbreak then i will be alright. It does only seem to be schools and does not seem to have spread to hospitals or work places. Some schools will be closed until Wednesday. I wont relax for another week yet.

[neesy]

At least that's one thing it is not as bad as in previous years and you didnt catch it then! Is it a 'yearly' thing that they shut the schools in your area for this? It does all seem to be primary schools too!

[moonshadow]

Now it's on East Midlands news that it's spead to Nottingham too. That 's too close for comfort!


Good news is, they said it was not just s &amp; d, but other flu-like symptoms too. Headache and sore throat and that. And it was affecting younger children more than older.


I have no children, but I'll still do anything I canto convince myself of reasons I don't need to catch it!


[img]smileys/smilies_12.gif[/img]

[kfitz]

hi my names kathryn, im 21 first time on here, i heard bout it n read it too, i live in manchester not too close, ive been an emet for 11 years.The bugdoes affect younger children n schools because children dont have as good immune system as we do so lets not panick, i felt like my heart came up to my mouth wen i read it but we will all have the immune system to cope with it. Before coming on here i thought i was the only person with this phobia, didnt know how many ppl had it.

[Hale]

I live in staffordshire but work in a school in the west mids and I am terrified. The year 3 class have had 5 out of 6 staff of with it this week, it seems to be getting to the staff more than the kids. It's times like this I wonder why I ever decided to work in a school and it makes me even more scared of having kids.

[curly wurly]

This news is very scary, but I think it has already done the rounds at my daughters school. I live in Suffolk and my daughters school is quite small(less than 150 4-9 year olds). Over the past 3 weeks lots of children have been missing from my daughters class but this week the class has been full every day so I really hope it is over at her school. I had a sv just over a week ago which I think I caught from a child at my daughter's party but fortunately the rest of my family did not catch it. I just hope it is over and a different bug does not spread to my daughter's school. Hurry up spring!

[sneezymonkey]

At the mo, i'm in a bit of a turmoil over this school/sickness/bug stuff! I have a 7 yr old who's school has been over run with sick children [img]smileys/smilies_11.gif[/img]Touchwood he hasn't complained of any symptoms but all week i've been on edge, asking if he's washed his hands properly. I know if he's gonna get it, he'll get it through the air but its always best to be clean isn't it?! Why is it, all the mums who stand outside the classroom waiting for their kids just simply luurrve chatting about how many times their child vomited last week?? I mean, come on, do they have to? I took one of the women to the side &amp; explained about my condition &amp; she laughed at me &amp; asked how I could be scared of a natural body function! [img]smileys/smilies_03.gif[/img]Needless to say I tried to defend myself but was gutted &amp; felt quite alone &amp; scared..


I think my sonsschool in particularneeds a bloody good scrub with strong disinfectant cos he's had more stomach bugs sincewe moved round here 2 years ago. I went to a parents evening a while ago &amp; watched a cleaner attempting to clean a sink.Get this.. she sprayed aminute minisculeamount of cleaning solution somewhere near the plughole. Thats it! No disinfectant went near the taps!! &amp; no scrubbing was involved! I was gutted! I wouldn't know how to broach the subject with the head though to gethygiene sorted.. Any ideas??


God reading that back, i'm twisting my ring round &amp; round my finger in panic &amp;I realise I must be having an episode, so i'll stop &amp; click the X button at the top right of the page.


Sorry for going on but it's all getting a bit too much foe me [img]smileys/smilies_06.gif[/img]

[laneyb]

Im in Suffolk and have been panicking all week since a work colleague was sickat work and didnt want to go home.


Then last nite I read the papers and catch site of several articles about the Midlands problems,I dont even have children (altho Im not maternal Im sure this phobia has contributed to my decision)but am still worried in case it reaches this area.


The funnything is, I have a team of 16that report to me, and they obviously dont know about my phobia. They just think Im a fabteam leader to be so concerned about them!!! If only they knew the real reason I quiz them about illness.

[cloughie]

Do you think the media exaggerate these things tho?

They could be. It depends which channel you watch. We have a bug sweeping the midlands on one channel. It's not as bad as it could be on another. The schools, well there are so many different numbers closed, they have reported 10, 11, 40, 30 and now 23. I heard that onein three children have it at one school and theni heard that 200 out ofanother school but they dont say how big the school is. I am very frightened at the moment, i wore gloves to town this this morning so as not to touch anything. I don't have children so hopefully as long as i keep my hands very clean i will be alright. I wasn't to bad until they used the words "sweeping" so yes i believe they are using words to make it sound as dramatic as possible.

[trixie]

I'm in suffolk and the only thing keeping me going at the moment is knowing my kids break up on friday 10th feb - half term and they will be with me all week, at home, as will other children, so this bug thing will probably die down and no longer be at large in the schools - i hope ..... anyone else think like me?[img]smileys/smilies_10.gif[/img]


Moonshadow - i'm like you. If there are other symptoms i don't get so stressed out. Strange isn't it??[img]smileys/smilies_05.gif[/img]

[suze]

Mine don't break for half term until the 16th [img]smileys/smilies_06.gif[/img]Looking on the positive side tho, some of these schools have been closed for cleaning...this should reduce the spread. Also, the weekend will have hopefully slowed things down...any kid who picked up the virus on Friday will probably have symptoms before Monday and therefore won't be in. What causes the spread is kids actually being sick in school...this can't happen at the weekend. Scary though, jeez...i'm in cardiff and i heard it has moved to gloucester...anyone else think this thing is trying to trackthem down!!


My kids' school had a few off but it seems it was with a fever/flu like illness rather than v*...but there's still time for something else to hit. I SO hate feeling like this.

[purpleteacher]

I consider closing of schools to be a good thing because then things can be taken care of and not be allowed to continue to spread. I hate thinking and knowing that SO MANY people are ill, but at least they aren't continuing to spread it by going to school.


I am glad this weekend is a 3 day weekend for local schools. I have been surrounded by sick kids and I have been battling a horrible cold virus for the last week. Knowing students have a little extra time to get well this weekend is encouraging for me.

[jenneth]

it's spead to Nottingham too

NOO!! 52% of my school was off on thursday, i am REALLY worried now. anyone on here had 'it'?

jen

[fifi]

Hi,


My daughters school in Reading in Berkshire, has had alot of kids off aswell. My son had a flu like illness and felt sick. I had to pick him up from my mums with a bucket by him!!! I was lucky he was not sick, but the nerves i had where horriable. I wish this phobia would stop and then i could stop asking my kids if they feel ok. I wanted to tell my husband about this phobia, but i did not have enough strength to tell him. I did'nt want him to think i was stupid!!!


Hope everyone is well.


Love


Kate

[cloughie]

This is how i coped this last week as i live in the midlands. I wore gloves and a scarf, the bug would of had a hard time getting into me. I washed my hands as soon as i got indoors. Look out of the window watch yourneighbours going off to work they haven't got it. The postman hasn't got it, the newsreader hasn't got it.The news reporter who reported from the effected schools he hasn't got it either. It doesn't mean it hasn't taken over my mind but i get a little relief from these thoughts. I don't have children though so i wouldn't know what to do if i did.

[fifi]

my friends little girls had it. They had been to Birmingham for the weekend. I hope they are ok now.


I cant wait until March and hopefully everything will be better. I wish i could just stay indoors until then, however, life go on and we have to think nice things. I have not seen anything on our news.


Kate


xxxxx

[s0ccer_princess]

Where do you live Kylie? I am in Essex so its no where near me but has still worried me!

I live in Essex too Whereabouts do you live?

My school's been talking about closing because 19 people went home in a form the other day- there's been an outbreak of the norovirus over here.

II didn't even realise anything was all that different from normal until we got a note in the register telling us that there had been a warning from the local health authority regarding an outbreak in our area, and that we were all advised to wash hands, not share drinks etc.

[staceyc]

Hey im new on this website and i was really amazed to see that there r ppl like me who r jus as scared bout this virus that is going around. My mom is a teacher and lots of people in her class have got the virus. I am worried about my two sisters getting the bug as well and have told them to not let anyone breathe on them. I know it may sound paranoid but i get so scared and cant stop thinking about the fact that so many have got the bug and my sisters,my momand me could get it at any time. Tomorrow i am meant to be visitin a primary school to help with a workshop but am so scared and dont think im going to go any more.


My friend and family dont really understand my phobia and get fed up of me going on bout my fears. My friend scared me the other day by telling me it could form into OCD and could take over my life. I really don't want anything as extreme like that to happen. Anyway im just so glad that there is ppl on here who can understand what im going on about. Thanks!!

[staceyc]

and i live in the Midlands where the bug is circulating. I thought that after the weekend it would die down a bit but my mom said its still really bad at her school. They should just close all the schools till its blown over.[img]smileys/smilies_06.gif[/img]

[rileyl]

I am so sorry for you folks in the UK. I am scared for my kids every day I send them to school here in the US, and know we are not immune to such outbreaks. What I want to know is if a sv can spread like this and actually close down schools, etc., why isn't there a vaccine of some sort? I know there are many variations of sv's, but anything would help. There are vaccines for the respiratory flu even though it mutates. Why does the general society just put up with sv's? I guess sv's are comparatively short-lived, but they literally take you out when they hit. I have read thatthere are some vaccines in the works, but I am afraid they will make it to market too late to be of much benefit to my kids.[img]smileys/smilies_06.gif[/img]

[silver]

I am so sorry for you guys..I understand as there was a day where 60% of the kids at an elementary school were out with it. Ours hit the week before Chistmas break. Every single person that I work with that have children were affected. This should bring some peace to you minds...all of their children got sick, but only one of the adults actually got it and it was mild for her. It is hard to deal with, but we need to remember in times like these that we were school age children once too and I can almost GUARANTEE that the sv* went around like this then too...for me, I only actually got it once in all of the years that I was in school and surrounded by other kids. I don't remeber my brother ever getting it. The bottom line is, we go through this every year, the media is adding to your stress level right now (as they always do) Here in the U.S. for example we have a Terrorist Level everyday which is on the news and gauges the risk of a possible terrorist attack. The media contributes so much to panic...

[suze]

I'm really trying to keep calm but it's so hard. Everyday I'm checking that the regular faces are going into and coming out of school. The flu is certainly there but no sv that i know of - yet! The media is making things worse, it keeps saying we've got another month of misery as it sweeps around the country. I just want half term to arrive - even the weekend would provide some respite. I'm starting to obsess about this, really obsess...do you know what i mean?

[neesy]

I have really bad anxiety at the moment I just want to curl up in a ball and be on my own until it all blows over! My son was with one of his friends on Sunday who had the sickness bug (I cant believe that his mum let him out with it) and now I am just having really really bad anxiety and cant get my mind on anything else! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh hhhhhhhhhh hhhh

[angel13]

Ooh, sounds nasty. Good luck to you guys in the "danger" areas, stay strong! I can't believe how quickly and easily it is circulating! Luckily where I live we don't really get things like that...perhaps we have the wrong sort of climate? I'm out in the country, anyway, in a fairly remote little town. I'm very thankful for it!


neesy and everyone else: please don't wear yourselves out worrying about this! I knowit's very easy for me to sit here on the other side of the world and saythat! If you're careful, you'll be ok, right? The media definitely exaggerates these things, they love getting people worried. Look at the whole bird flu thing! They use big words like 'pandemic' to scare everyone into staying in their houses. Don't let it stop you living your life! Just know that you're safe as long as you're conscious of your actions when you're in public, and make sure your children are careful, too. Plenty of sleep, water and things to boost immune systems!