Students’ rap for swine flu, school scurries for precaution

That was the ditty of the day at Sardar Patel Vidyalaya on Thursday. A bunch of Class VIII students were rapping this swine flu song with gusto outside the school, a day after a Class IX student of the school was confirmed with swine flu.

Oh we’ve got flu, swine flu, swine flu
What to do, what to do
Sneeze, cough, cold
We feel blue
What to do, what to do.

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That was the ditty of the day at Sardar Patel Vidyalaya on Thursday. A bunch of Class VIII students were rapping this swine flu song with gusto outside the school, a day after a Class IX student of the school was confirmed with swine flu.

The student who tested positive for swine flu, a girl, was part of the 19-member group that had returned from a vacation in Malaysia and Singapore on July 8. She has been admitted, along with her parents, at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital.

Since the girl had attended school for two days, her entire class — IX A — and students on her bus route (PV-7) have been asked to stay quarantined at home for a week and report any symptoms of cough, cold or fever.

The school on Wednesday also sent a note to all parents informing them that a girl from the school had tested positive for the disease.

In India, 260 cases have been reported till now.

“We have had a meeting with the representatives of Delhi government’s Department of Health and the National Institute of Communicable Diseases. The students were asked to go on home quarantine under their advice,” said Anuradha Joshi, principal of the school.

Most students, especially in junior school, knew nothing about swine flu till the note from the school was given. “We got the note, now we know. A cough, cold or fever could be swine flu,” said Achint Kapoor of VII-B.

What upset students more than the threat of infection was the week-long vacation Class IX students and bus mates got. “One whole week off. Imagine,” said Priya Garg, a student of Class VI-C.

(Names of students have been changed)