E.coli relatives' schools anger

Garyn Price was recovering from a stroke when he was hit by E.coli

The families of children hit by the south Wales E.coli outbreak have criticised the decision to send pupils back to affected schools.

Rosemary Price, the grandmother of nine-year-old Garyn Price of Aberdare, said school was the worst place to be.

Garyn is being treated on dialysis in Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool, where he was flown on Monday.

But authorities said every precaution had been taken and parents should still send their children to lessons.

Garyn is also recovering from a stroke he suffered two years ago, and his grandmother said the family felt let down by the authorities.

Children are going back to school - I'm sure that's the worst place they can be [when there is] a contagious illness Rosemary Price

His sister, Lowri, is too afraid to go to school and his grandparents have been tested to see if they have been infected as well.

Mrs Price said: "Children are going back to school - I'm sure that's the worst place they can be [when there is] a contagious illness. So I feel really bitter about it all."

Garyn's grandfather, Terry, said the boy was "very sick" and they had been told he would be in hospital for between two and four weeks.

Daniel Sacchi is now at home after hospital treatment

"This has come on top of his stroke and this is his second illness, but he is a very strong boy," he said

Another family, from Rhondda, have also criticised the fact that schools were kept open. Caitlin Bray, three, is on dialysis in the kidney unit of Bristol Children's Hospital. Her four-year-old brother Thomas and their mother, Lisa, are also in hospital.

Pam Sacchi's 11-year-old son Daniel has just returned home from hospital, having been admitted on Sunday.

He was the first child from the Bridgend area to be identified as having the bug.

Ms Sacchi said it had been a difficult week. "It was a great worry for us about whether Daniel would get worse and not being told anything," she said.

"There were reports coming in of children being rushed to hospital and having operations."

Food chain

The authorities said although the number of cases kept rising, it was because E.coli had an incubation period and all the apparently new cases were actually children infected last week.

They also said shutting schools was not necessary as all steps had been taken to keep children safe, and there was no need to keep healthy children away from class.

Schools in four local authority areas have been affected: Rhondda Cynon Taf (RCT), Merthyr, Caerphilly and Bridgend.

The worst hit is RCT, with 21 schools affected. The council said it had no evidence that worried parents were keeping children away, and the only ones at home were those who had complained of symptoms.

Dr Roland Salmon, of the National Public Health Service, said people who called for school closures underestimated the disruption it caused.

"In many ways a school is one of the most safe and more structured environments a child can be in," Dr Salmon added.