Full recovery for swine flu girl

A six-year-old girl from Oxfordshire who became the UK's youngest swine flu case when she was diagnosed has "made a good and full recovery".

Dr Noel McCarthy at Thames Valley Health Protection Unit, said the case had been "contained".

He said the girl, a pupil at Sandhills School, Oxford, became ill after returning from Mexico. She only went to school for one day.

Three UK schools have closed as the number of confirmed cases reached 18.

The child was in no way ill when she was at school or around that time so there is no risk to anybody at the school Dr Noel McCarthy, Thames Valley Health Protection Unit

Dr McCarthy said the Oxfordshire case had not posed a threat to other pupils, which is why authorities decided not to name the school and not to close it.

He said: "We're pleased to say that the girl has recovered well."

Dr McCarthy said the girl returned from Mexico and fell ill some days later.

He praised her family's "quick and sensible response".

He said: "It's been the family that have protected the rest of us in terms of their excellent behaviour, seeking appropriate care and quarantining themselves - both when they didn't know what it was and subsequently when they did."

Dr McCarthy said the family and everyone who had been in contact with the girl had been assessed and offered treatment to prevent them from being infected.

"The child was in no way ill when she was at school or around that time so there is no risk to anybody at the school," he said.

"Having said this, the county council and the head of the school are, and will be continuing to contact those in the school to give clear information but mainly to reassure people rather than to say that they need to do anything special."