Three children in hospital over school virus outbreak

Three children have been treated in hospital after an outbreak of norovirus at a school.

Seven children in one class at Compton All Saints Church of England Primary School, near Winchester in Hampshire, contracted the highly contagious virus that causes sickness and diarrhoea, and stayed off school on Thursday.

Hampshire County Council said out of the seven struck by the stomach bug three were admitted to hospital.

The outbreak has led to a partial closure of the school on Friday with a deep clean due to take place.

The 120-pupil school for children aged 4-11 said it was advised by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) to isolate the class from the rest of the school but as this was "logistically impossible" the only option was to close the class.

The authority said parents had been notified and norovirus information shared from UKHSA.

It added a deep clean had been booked at the school which was due to close on Friday afternoon for the half-term break.

UKHSA said specialists from its health protection team were working with Hampshire County Council and the school.

Although it is sometimes called the winter vomiting bug, you can get norovirus at any time of year. It usually gets better in about two days.

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