UK pupils in China hospital with swine flu

Published on Sunday 19 July 2009 22:15

EIGHT British schoolchildren on a trip to China are in hospital after contracting swine flu, it emerged yesterday.

The teenagers, seven from London and one from Somerset, were diagnosed with the H1N1 virus in Beijing.

More than 50 of their classmates and teachers are quarantined in a hotel.

A spokesman for the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust said: "We are following the Chinese health regulations. We don't know at the moment if the students will be able to continue with their trip or come home."

Four of those affected come from Parliament Hill School in Camden, three are from the Central Foundation Boys School in Clerkenwell, both in London, and one is from Clevedon School in Somerset.

Three of them were taken to hospital directly from the airport and another, Matthew Barnett, fell ill a few days after arriving.

His mother, Jackie Barnett, from Islington, north London, said: "He left on Monday, arrived in China on Tuesday, and three of his friends were taken straight to the hospital from the airport. I got a call from his headteacher saying Matthew was taken ill on Friday. I think he's OK, but a bit homesick now.

"We don't know when he can come home because they don't know if anyone else will be taken ill over there."

The other four were taken to hospital on Saturday. The group were among a party of some 600 British students and teachers from across the UK who had gone to China.

The trip was organised by the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust, the British Council and Hanban, a Chinese organisation linked to Confucius Institutes.