Scottish pupils given flu advice

January 12 2011

Pupils in Scotland have been given advice on how to avoid spreading flu now that the new school term has started.

Health secretary Nicola Sturgeon attended Edinburgh's Preston Street Primary School this week to take part in a hand-washing demonstration led Mary Bisacre of NHS Lothian's hand hygiene team.

The government has provided schools across the country with information packs for pupils, which include guidance on catching coughs and sneezes, among other things.

"For the majority of healthy people, seasonal flu is an unpleasant but short-lived illness from which they make a full recovery. However for those at risk, contracting flu can have serious or even fatal consequences," Ms Sturgeon commented.

"That is why even seemingly simple things like practising good hand hygiene are so important. We are reinforcing this by reminding schools and nurseries that the online resource pack is available to them to use with pupils in the ongoing bid to keep seasonal flu at bay."

Speaking earlier this week, Scotland's chief medical officer Harry Burns said parents should have their children vaccinated against flu if they are in an at-risk group.

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