Parents have prevented nearly 500 primary pupils from going to school in the northern province of Thai Binh after a pupil died from flu.

Many pupils were absent from school

A fifth-grade pupil at Vu Thu Town Primary School was sick since March 21 and was admitted to Thai Binh Paediatric Hospital two days later. She died on March 25. There was a rumour that she died because of a contagious brain-eating virus.

Lai Thi Thoa, director of Vu Thu Town Primary School said they had 23 classes with over 1,000 pupils. On March 25, 57 pupils were absent from school. This number climbed to 126 and 446 on March 26 and 27 respectively. The school quickly reported the case to the local medical station and Vu Thu District Department of Education and Training after noticing that 20 pupils in Class 1A3 and 10 pupils from Class 5A3 were absent on March 25.

After investigating, the authorities announced that a fifth-grade pupil had died from acute encephalitis associated with influenza B.

Dr Nguyen Van Thom from the Center for Disease Control said they were working with the local medical facilities to monitor the sick pupils. 48 pupils have been tested positive for influenza B. However, this is seasonal influenza which can be treated in two or three days.

Acute encephalitis can be caused by several factors but it cannot cause an outbreak.

The local authorities have applied several measures to deal with the influenza B outbreak at Vu Thu Primary School such as sterilise the locations, let pupils wash hands regularly with chloramine B and temporarily close the kitchen.

Thoa said they had sent the announcement to the parents, 186 pupils were still absent from school as of March 28.

Tienphong/Dtinews