School absence rules are super powering the spread of flu

Not true.

You can be asymptomatic with flu or have very minimal symptoms

Wrong.

The test kits we ordered and used said otherwise

also DD is still suffering her voice hasn’t come back (can’t sing) throat hurts and coughs she just managed to make it back to sixth form

@FloralHighNotes flu can also be asymptomatic it is part of how it manages to spread and travel

I don’t get why you are so adamant it has to only be a serious illness?

Your husband and daughter didn't have flu.

@FloralHighNotes nope not true. We have all just had it - DS had 8 days off and I was pretty close still battling the exhaustion. My parents (vaccinated) mum was worse than Dad. DH had one day off DD two days

that is why nothing helps the spread Covid showed that!

@Winteriscoming80 why did the school do that for 1 day

Then you wouldn’t know they had flu?
Are we suggesting keeping kids off for a sniffle?! The education system would collapse.

It was a Friday actually lol,school is 5 minutes away,I have no reason not to take him in,I think a lot of children are catching more bugs/illnesses due to the long terms before Christmas.

Flu is not like having a cold or little sniffle. It is a serious illness makes you feel like absolute shut for at least a week, but usually much longer. Most people have never had flu.

Rest assured that your OP did not have flu yesterday and he certainly does not need to stay home forever...

My youngest school have had at least 6 teachers off over the last two weeks one of which has actually with the classic Mumsnet twinkly laugh says she was the one who brang it into school and wiped her out couldn’t get out of bed for four days.

children and teachers walking around carrying sick bags 🤢

They're not 'so unwell' at all babe. Try reading more carefully. They're prevented by you from accessing their education for fear of a hugely unlikely disaster scenario stemming from their mild cold.

Does anyone give a shit about absence % at school? Assuming they are sick and not skiving

The stats don't bear that out though, absence rate is high amongst teachers.

My frustration really is down to how the effect of teacher absence is mitigated. It's not fair on pupils to have a series of different interim teachers, particularly during their exam years.

The child that probably wouldn't be so unwell if they had time to actually recover?

Wrong.

Some people are floored by it, others aren’t. Individuals’ experiences will vary with the current strain.

You don’t know you’ve never had it. You could easily have been mildly ill, obviously would have no reason to be tested, and actually it’s flu.

All this “well the only time I had flu I was totally unable to move” is completely illogical because people have no idea what they had all the times they were less ill.

I’m not saying though that kids should be kept off with mild symptoms just in case it happens to be flu though.

I found it really interesting during covid how many people clearly had no understanding of the prevalence of asymptomatic illnesses. It's understandable that people dont like the idea they could personally have infected any number of people with a virus that later killed them, but a lot seemed not to even know this was the case.

Your situation sounds awful and I am sorry for you and your family, but as a useful argument in this discussion it's a logical fallacy (appeal to extremes in case you care).

I can do the same - what about the child who is ill through no fault of their own and misses enough reading classes that they are permanently stunted in their education? Their opportunities aren't important enough?

Flu is just like Covid. Some people are seriously ill, some just feel a bit rough, and some are asymptomatic and walk round spreading it while completely unaware they even have flu.

It has been debunked that everyone who has flu can’t get out of bed.

Right. I'll let my cousin know that her child ending up in hospital again isn't anything serious

If someone gives me a cold that's some 2 weeks ill. I've just finished 5 days of steroids as well

Teachers are less likely to call in sick and more likely to go to work ill than other professions.

To a teacher, being off sick is often more work than going in so we generally avoid it where possible.

I don't think we disagree particularly. I'm responding to the posters who seem to think it is morally inconceivable that children should be out receiving an education when they are only mildly unwell. Your point is about children who are too unwell to receive education.

Yes. It's not the automatic association you've characterised it as. It is much more likely that a child going into school with a mild or moderate virus won't cause a serious illness for someone.

No, I work in this sector and I’m telling you that it is quite possible to walk around with a strain of flu and be fine whilst someone else will catch the same strain and be hospitalised.

Maybe some people say they have flu and they actually have a cold. I personally have never been swabbed for anything except Covid so all of my other respiratory infections have been anonymous. For those of us who haven’t been hospitalised I imagine it’s the same across the board.

I've no idea. And honestly, I don't care. It was an observation, not a forensic examination.

For clarity, I never said all. If the cap doesn't fit, don't wear it.