Latest: Swine flu inquiry to discover source of virus (AUDIO)

PARENTS fear that children may have swine flu after pupils were sent home following an outbreak at a school.

St Paul's Primary School in Longton will be closed for seven days from today after a seven-year-old girl contracted the illness.

Some mums and dads were advised to take their children home after watching a school play, while the others were sent letters.

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Listen to reactions to the case of swine flu

Public health experts confirmed the case was mild and the girl did not need hospital admission. They launched an inquiry to find out where she may have contracted swine flu.

They were also giving people close to her medication to ease any symptoms. The 200-pupil Byatt's Grove school is only a few hundred yards from Edensor Technology College, which stayed open last month despite a PE teacher falling victim to the pandemic.

St Paul's pupil Karly Hallam, aged nine, said: "The teachers said to us that everyone had got to go home because someone in Year 2 had swine flu.

"Everyone was shocked and started holding their mouths. I was scared and when I got home I cried because I was scared of getting swine flu."

The shutdown decision was made by school headteacher Sandra Hearson and the governors following advice from Stoke-on-Trent City Council, the city's primary care trust and the Health Protection Agency (HPA).

She said: "An individual from the school community has been confirmed as having swine flu. Fortunately, it is very mild.

"Parents who attended a school assembly yesterday morning were advised of the decision and other parents received a letter later in the day."

Some parents criticised the decision to open the school yesterday when a pupil had already been taken ill.

Mother-of-three Tracey Kimble, of Kimberley Street, who has an eight-year-old daughter, K-Ci Faram, at the school, said: "They went to school in the morning, watched a school play, then the children were sent home after that.

"I don't think the children should have gone in at all – to have them in for a school concert when there's an outbreak of swine flu is not right."

A local education authority spokesman said: "It was a difficult operation to close a school of this size but action was taken as soon as possible."

City public health director Dr Giri Rajaratnam said: "Our advice for anyone who suspects their child or themselves to have swine flu symptoms is to stay at home and call their GP or contact NHS Direct on 0845 4647."

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Story filed in: Swine flu | Health | Education