CHILDREN have been withdrawn from schools while being treated for suspected swine flu.

Parents of children at Highams Park Children’s Day Nursery received a letter from the manager, Blerina Cani, to say that she had been informed by a parent that their child was being treated for swine flu at home.

The letter was sent out to reassure parents of children at the private nursery, in Handsworth Avenue, Highams Park, which cares for up to 55 children aged three months to five-years-old.

Kelmscott Secondary School, in Markhouse Road, Walthamstow, was the first school in the borough with pupils suspected of carrying the virus.

Last week a letter was sent out to all parents explaining that more than one pupil was being treated by their GP.

Headteacher Lynnette Parvez told the Guardian that the school is following the procedures advised by the local authority and NHS and would not be closing.

Mrs Parvez said: "Most schools in the local authority have had suspected or confirmed cases, so we are no different from any other school.

"We sent out a standard letter picking up the main points as set out by the local authority and the Government and advice that is on the NHS website.

"The health authority say that because the virus is now in the community you are no more at risk of getting it in school.

"We are just taking sensible precautions and will be carrying on as normal."

A spokeswoman at Waltham Forest PCT said that schools or nurseries where a child has been carrying the illness are not being closed because for the majority of people it is a “mild illness”.

She said: “It is so widely spread that closing schools wouldn’t help.

“We don’t want people to panic about it because there is no reason to panic. It is no different from contracting other viruses in the community.”