Staff and pupils hit by illness

Scores of teachers and children from secondary schools across Kent have been sent home because of a flu virus.

Influenza B causes high temperatures, gastric upsets and headaches. Thirty schools are currently affected although none have been forced to close yet.

The Health Protection Unit is advising sufferers to go to bed and not to return to work or school for 48 hours after they start to feel better.

Several schools have also been affected by the winter vomiting bug, Norovirus.

Experts at the Maidstone-based unit said in either case there was no need to consult a doctor unless symptoms became extreme.

One of the worst affected schools is the Simon Langton Boys' School in Canterbury, where about a third of all their pupils and some teachers have been sent home suffering symptoms of both illnesses.