THREE children have been rushed to hospital after an outbreak of a highly contagious bug swept through a school.
Seven children in a class of 22 at the Compton All Saints Church of England Primary School, near Winchester in , fell ill with , which causes .
The sick kids stayed off school on Thursday May 22, and three of them had to be treated in hospital, according to Hampshire County Council.
As a result of the outbreak, the school has been partially closed today to contain the infectious bug and conduct a deep clean of the premises.
Sun has contacted the school for comment and further updates.
According to the Hampshire County Council, the school – which is attended by 120 pupils aged four to eleven – sought public health advice.
It was advised isolate the class from other Year One students and the the rest of the school.
But as this was “logistically impossible”;;, the only option was to close the class on Friday.
Parents with children enrolled in the school were notified of the situation and provided with information public health advice on norovirus.
The NHS advises that anyone with norovirus symptoms avoid going to school or work until they’ve had no symptoms of the bug for two whole days.
Norovirus is often referred to as the ‘ vomiting bug’ but the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) recently warned that cases of the nasty illness have remained high into springtime.
“Think you have norovirus in May? It’s possible as levels are high for this time of year. You can catch the virus all year round,”;; the health watchdog posted on X, formerly .
In it’s last update on the bug, it said 1,924cases of norovirus were reported in the four weeks leading up to April 27.
This is more than double the amount usually seen at this time of year.
But though case numbers remain high, they have started to decrease slightly compared to previous weeks.
Overall, norovirus reports in April were 20 per cent lower than the previous four-week period, where 2,404 cases were detected, according to UKHSA.
“Reporting decreased across all age groups, but the highest number of reports remains in adults aged 65 years and over,”;; it added.
The health watchdog said it was looking into what was driving the higher-than-normal amount of norovirus cases, noting that changes to the epidemiology of the virus following the Covid-19 or changes in testing and reporting could be partly to blame.
Norovirus is spreads very easily so outbreaks are common in settings where people are often in close contact, such as , nurseries, hospitals and care homes.
For people will be suddenly struck by unpleasant symptoms – such as projectile vomiting, diarrhoea, stomach pains and a high temperature – for two or three days.
Though nasty, it tends to be short-live illness that people can recover from at home with rest and lots of fluids, to avoid dehydration.
But some vulnerable people – including young children, the elderly or those with weakened immunity – are at risk of suffering more serious and prolonged illness, which may require treatment in hospital.
Watch out for signs of dehydration and call 111 if your little one can’t keep fluids down, has bloody diarrhoea or has been vomiting for more than two days and having diarrhoea for more than seven.
Norovirus is very infectious as the virus spreads through poo particles.
You can catch it from coming into close contact with someone with the virus, touching contaminated surfaces or objects and then bringing your hand to your mouth, or eating food handled by someone with norovirus.
That;s why good hand hygiene is important to stop norovirus spreading.
To avoid catching the bug or passing it on to others, you should wash your hands frequently and thoroughly with soap and warm water.
This is most important following an episode of illness, after using the toilet, before eating or preparing food, as well as cleaning up vomit or diarrhoea.
Alcohol-based hand sanitisers won’t kill the virus, so give your hands a good scrub with warm water and soap.
