‘It’s worse than Covid,’ says principal as 170 pupils off sick in one day

The principal of a County Londonderry school has said it is like “being back in Covid times” after 170 pupils were off sick on one day alone.

Brian Guthrie of Ebrington Primary School said some children had to attend hospital and a small number were admitted for treatment last week.

Confirmed flu cases among adults and children across Northern Ireland have more than trebled in the last two weeks, rising from 273 to 954, official figures show.

Numbers are expected to rise, according to the Director of Public Health at the Public Health Authority (PHA), Dr Joanne McClean, who has described the current situation as an “epidemic”.

‘It took me back to 2020’

Mr Guthrie said classroom assistants at his school were also absent because of illness.

“It’s not just been flu, it’s been stomach bugs, very sore throats and illnesses in other ways as well but over the course of last week, it was very, very challenging with the number of pupils and staff off,” Mr Guthrie told BBC’s North West Today programme.

“It took me back to 2020, to be quite honest, the attendance was actually worse last week than it would have been at any of the worst points, if you like, back in Covid times so, yeah, it was a bit of a shock.”

The impact of the high levels of absence, Mr Guthrie said, meant teachers were not able to carry out new learning in terms of literacy and numeracy.

“It was hitting the younger children more at the start of last week but towards the end of the week, we noticed that it was the upper end of school, our P5-to-P7s, where we were seeing a higher absence rate but at the start of last week, it was more primary one, primary two,” he said.

‘Most severe flu outbreak in a decade’

Seasonal illnesses, including flu, rise every winter – but experts have predicted this year’s flu season could be the worst in a decade.

It is affecting young people in particular and a children’s doctor in Belfast said it is the worst influenza outbreak she has seen.

In the week ending 30 November, under-fives had the highest number of confirmed flu cases of any age group, according to the latest data published by the Public Health Agency, (PHA).

Over the same period five to 14-year-olds had the highest positivity rate (54.2%) meaning although fewer of them were tested – those that were tested were more likely to have the flu.

The Director of Public Health at the PHA, Dr Joanne McClean has described the current number of flu cases in Northern Ireland as an “epidemic”.

In the week up to 30 November there was an “almost doubling” both of positive tests and flu-related hospital admissions compared to the week before, she said.

“The epidemic is still growing,” Dr McClean told BBC’s Evening Extra programme.

“So we will expect to see even higher numbers in the next week.”

Dr McClean explained that this a “slightly drifted” strain of flu called H3, which is more infectious than the usual types and seems to be impacting children most significantly.

However, she said, most children who get the flu will not need to be admitted to hospital.

She added the likelihood of a child needing hospital treatment is reduced by about 70% if they get the vaccine.

The PHA is responsible for the roll-out of flu vaccines in schools across Northern Ireland, of which there are about 1,200 covered by the programme.

Earlier on Friday, Dr McClean told The Nolan Show about 40 schools in Northern Ireland have not been visited by the vaccination programme yet.

“Most of them will have had a visit by next week,” she said.

“At the minute, there are some schools who are scheduled after the Christmas holidays.”

She added the PHA is going to follow up with those schools to see if anything can be done to get the vaccines to them quickly and that delivering vaccine programmes through schools ensures a higher uptake.

“As director of public health, it would be great if we could get all the schools done in September, as soon as the vaccine arrives,” she said.

“But there are so many schools, we have to agree the times with the schools. They have to find a date that suits them and we have to get nurses in then to administer the vaccine.”

‘Flu uptake among children disappointing’

Vaccination rates among children across all age ranges remain below 50%, according to the PHA’s figures.

Only about one in four preschool children have had the flu vaccine so far, while about one in three post-primary children have.

Dr McClean said the current data is incomplete but it suggests the uptake among school age children will be similar to last year.

“I would prefer the uptake was 85-90%. I’d prefer if everyone got it,” she said.

“So, of course I’m disappointed by that.”

• Preschool children (2–4): 25.8%

• Primary school children (P1–P7): 44.7%

• Post-primary children (Year 8–12): 30.3%

Who is eligible for a flu vaccine?

In Northern Ireland, the flu vaccine is free for all pre-school children aged two and over, as well as all children at primary school and all children in Years 8 to 12 in secondary school.

People aged 65 and over, pregnant women, those with underlying health conditions, care-home residents and health and social care workers and are also eligible for free vaccines.

Vaccines can be accessed through GPs, community pharmacies, school programmes and at local Trust clinics.

People who are not eligible for free vaccines can still pay to get them from pharmacies which offer vaccination services.

Liam Bradley, a community pharmacist in Derry, said the demand for the flu vaccine this year has been greater than last year.

“Every pharmacy is allocated a certain quota of vaccines and we had used our quotas in all our branches and we have ordered more,” he said.

“There may be temporary shortages of vaccines because the pharmacies have used up their quota but the Department of Health would be trying to ensure that everybody gets the vaccine.”

He said it takes about seven to 10 days for the vaccine to give people protection against flu.