GIRL, 7, FIRST CHILD VICTIM OF SWINE FLU IN IRELAND; School fears as pupil gets deadly virus.

Byline: MICHELLE O'KEEFFE

A SEVEN-year-old girl is the first child in Ireland to contract swine flu, it emerged yesterday.

The first class pupil is isolated at home and is being treated for the potentiallylethal H1N1 virus.

The infected child's classmates at St John's National School, in Breaffy, just outside Castlebar, Co Mayo, were told yesterday morning to stay away from the school in a bid to prevent an outbreak.

And terrified parents of children in other classes rushed to collect their kids and bring them home despite the fact the school, which has 360 pupils, has not been officially shut.

Breaffy NS principal George Moran said yesterday: "One case of swine flu was confirmed by the HSE to me shortly before 8.30am.

"We have 14 classes in our school but the children of that one class, which has 28 pupils, were asked to stay at home.

"There is no risk for the rest of the children in our school.

"I immediately contacted all the parents of children in that class and informed them to keep their children away from the school.

"At that stage some of the children had already left home and they were met in the school and given information about the virus before being sent home.

"The child is being treated at home and is doing very well thankfully, which is the most important thing."

The HSE confirmed the child, from Balla, Co Mayo, did not contract the flu abroad but was infected from another person in Ireland with the virus.

Chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan said: "Two of the 16 cases of the H1N1 virus have occurred in people who have not travelled to any of the infected areas so they were picked up in this country.

"All the appropriate public health and clinical measures that needed to be taken in relation to this case have been implemented.

"The protocol for primary and secondary schools is different - in a national school it is classes rather than whole schools that should be closed. But that will have to be looked at in each indivuidual case."

The case brings to 16 the number of confirmed cases here.

CAPTION(S):

PROTOCOL Principal George Moran PRECAUTION A HSE official carries boxes of the anti viral drug Tamiflu REASSURED Mums Gillian Conroy and Ina McDonnagh with information given to them by the HSE CONCERNED Parents leave the meeting at Breaffy National School in Co Mayo yesterday