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British troops quarantined after being held on flu jets
Tim Ross, Mark Prigg, Benedict Moore-Bridger and Felix Allen5 May 2009
A total of 176 Royal Marines on a military flight were held overnight in quarantine, it was revealed this afternoon.
The men, who had recently undergone training in Mexico, were taken from Brunei International Airport on buses shortly after their flight from the UK touched down. Health officials who escorted them to a hotel wore masks.
Three of the men were treated in a hospital isolation unit after they were found to have body temperature slightly above normal.
The 40 Commando Marines, based in Plymouth, were all allowed out today. It is believed the soldiers were travelling to a jungle warfare training camp when they were stopped. A second flight carrying 96 soldiers was also held at the airport but none of the soldiers was quarantined.
Meanwhile, a nursery has joined three London schools which have been forced to close amid fears that swine flu is spreading among children.
Private schools are being urged to set up quarantine rooms to isolate pupils suspected of having the virus.
Parents could be forced to disclose their children's medical conditions to teachers under emergency measures designed to contain the outbreak.
Legal advice issued to more than 1,200 independent schools said parents should be required to agree to quarantine procedures if their children begin to show flu symptoms.
The advice, drawn up by lawyers Veale Wasbrough for the Independent Schools Council, warned that parents should not receive fee refunds if schools are forced to close. Headteachers should ensure their school medical rooms are “well stocked and prepared for pupils with the symptoms of flu”.
“Consider whether extra space will be required for effective quarantine of suspected victims and make the necessary plans or preparations,” the guidance said. “Schools should ensure that the terms and conditions of the parent contract contain an obligation on parents to comply with its rules on the quarantine of pupils and the disclosure of medical information to the school.”
The guidance came as a cluster of private schools in Dulwich were put on high alert amid fears that swine flu is beginning to spread through the capital's schoolchildren. A third London school and a nursery were forced to close today. Dolphin School and Noah's Ark Nursery in Clapham, Alleyn's School in Dulwich and South Hampstead High School have all shut following outbreaks. Experts said an 11-year-old girl who attends Alleyn's and infected her two sisters is at the centre of the outbreak, Britain's worst so far.
Five of the girl's classmates at the £13,000-a-year Alleyn's School were confirmed infected yesterday — the largest single jump in cases since the virus arrived in the UK.
But today it was confirmed the virus had spread to south-west London after the £8,000-a-year Dolphin School and Noah's Ark Nursery in Clapham five miles away, attended by the 11-year-old's younger siblings, was closed “as a precaution”, according to governors.
The move raises fears that further schools will be affected as the virus is transmitted between siblings. The 11-year-old girl caught the illness following a trip to America at Easter and although her younger siblings did not travel with her, Wandsworth Primary Care Trust today confirmed the children had caught the H1N1 virus.
The Health Protection Agency said although the Dolphin School had closed they would not be prescribing Tamiflu as the children had not displayed any symptoms while at school. At Alleyn's, nurses last night handed out Tamiflu to all 1,300 staff and pupils after the HPA confirmed that five Year 7 pupils had the infection. The school will be shut for at least a week and A-level and GCSE exams are now under threat.
Classrooms at £11,000-a-year South Hampstead High School have also been closed until at least Thursday after a 14-year-old girl from Barnet was diagnosed with the virus.
There are now 23 cases in England and four in Scotland, with 13 people infected in London. Another 331 people are also under test for the virus.
Last weekend dozens of teenagers from Alleyn's gathered for a party. The HPA recommended the leavers ball be cancelled. However, it is believed it went ahead disguised as a private party, with attendees told not to speak to the press.
Parents today said giving out Tamiflu was unlikely to work as many pupils had siblings at a number of schools in the area, including Dulwich College, James Allen's Girls' School (Jags), James Allen's Preparatory School, and the state primary Dulwich Hamlet.
Former nurse Sophie Stutter, 50, who has a son in Year 8 at Alleyn's, said: “I also have a son at the College and a daughter at Jags, and there's lots of families who have that arrangement. Now it's just a question of who goes down next.”
Reader views (12)
So there you have it. The rich and their spoilt kids throw a private party in defiance of sensible health advice and to hell with the risks to others. Isn't that the definition of anti-social behaviour?
- Ali, London, UK, 05/05/2009 15:23
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Compulsory quanantining is foreign to the English, who have enjoyed freedom for a thousand years. The quasi-miltary nature of these operations will usher in the New World Order of totalitarian control.
- Neil, London, London UK, 05/05/2009 14:52
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23 cases in England, and four in Scotland of Swine flu, er, how many cases of normal flu? I'd hate to see how the media and Govt would react if something really took off. My Gran used to tell me how to cough and sneeze in polite circles, now we need a whole ministry to tell us the same. Talk about nanny state. (We couldn't afford one of them (nanny) as we was poor, but now everyone has to have one.)
- Alan, carlisle uk, 05/05/2009 14:22
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When they start quarantining us at gunpoint, it will be too late to do anything, so I would like to suggest we overthrow the government, the pharmaceutical industry and the banking system right now. We don't need them and never did.
- Neil, London, London UK, 05/05/2009 14:06
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Tobin: Of course the virus may mutate. Its what viruses do! Its still no excuse for this hysteria.
- Mary, London, 05/05/2009 13:57
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When we start getting herded into concentration camps we'll see who needs a padded cell. The people who are doing this rely on the disbelief of the masses that our government is nothing but a cabal of international banksters bent on world government. You don't hear about this stuff on mainstream TV which is why most people are totally ignorant. Follow the money and you'll see for yourselves what's really going on behind the swine flu propaganda.
- Neil, London, London UK, 05/05/2009 13:54
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Every few years a panic like this sweeps the world, kills a few people in clusters in poorer countries, and - so far- dies away. We respond to these panics because we know that we're living on borrowed time: we've squandered the amazing protection that antibiotics have offered, and we fly around the world as if there were no downside. If we're serious about epidemic prevention, we need to insist on some sort of assessment, possibly including quarantine,BEFORE anyone gets on a jet from one continent to another. It'll mean a small percentage of the world's population giving up a luxurious and unsustainable part of their lifestyle, but we'll get used to it: the money 'lost' will be rerouted into other activities and create wealth in other ways.
- Mdj E10, london uk, 05/05/2009 13:10
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It occurs to me that, while swine flu (H1N1) doesn't appear to be as serious as previously thought, things can change. The virus could mutate or it could get into a vunerable section of the population. We simply don't know and should take the cautious approach.
You could also regard this outbreak as practice for the likely bird flu (H5N1) outbreak. If this virus becomes human-to-human communicable, and we don't take the cautious approach, over half the population could die from it. And that's not even taking into account deaths from secondary causes as society collapses.
- Tobin, Andover, 05/05/2009 12:57
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If the pupils are coming into school they'll all be in contact with other kids (not to mention their family members) so quarantine will be pointless and if they are already in school (e.g. boarders) then it would be better to find out how it got into school rather than putting a classroom aside for a handful of kids to sneeze in!
- Ian, Cambridge, 05/05/2009 12:25
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Neil, London, you were doing so well with your first sentence - before adding the illogical conspiracy theory nonsense afterwards.
But you are right - this is a dreadful overreaction based not on fact but on public servant nonsense.There are still only managing to find maybe 50 or so 'victims' of H1N1 in the whole of the UK a full week after the alert went to 'level 5'.
Dublin radio station Today FM spoke to a resident of Mexico City a week ago and they reported that the panic had largely ended there but over here public officials added fuel to the fire. Indeed the true number who died from H1N1 in Mexico is now reported as being in low double digits contrary to what was previously reported - why is no-one reporting this in the UK??
I will only become concerned when people start dying from this virus in the UK - looks like most people who caught it have had unpleasant symptoms for 48 hrs then continue on as before.
- Dc, Belfast, 05/05/2009 11:53
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OO-er, someone left Neil from London's padded cell open. Nurse!
- Phil, London, 05/05/2009 11:03
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An interesting experiment in promoting fear, unreasonable suspicion, and hysterical overreaction. This will pave the way for concentration camps and the dumb, feeble acquiesence of the sheeple. Swine flu is man made and is a deliberate exercise in social control and the promotion of the idea that we are the property of the state. Looks like most people are falling for it already!
- Neil, London, London UK, 05/05/2009 10:22
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