Fear of deadly cough keeps pupil at home

11:29am Tuesday 23rd May 2006

A MUM is refusing to send her daughter back to school because of fears she could catch a potentially fatal cough.

Angela Ky is angry two children are being allowed to go to classes at Greenwich Steiner School, Kirkside Road, Greenwich, despite displaying symptoms of whooping cough.

She now fears her daughter Isis, eight, could catch the cough because the school has failed in its "duty of care".

Mrs Ky, of Wallbutton Road, Brockley, claims two children were taken out of school two weeks ago with symptoms of whooping cough.

But after six days they were returned to the independently-funded and run school, having taken a course of antibiotics.

Neither child has been diagnosed with whooping cough but Mrs Ky feels the school was wrong to allow them back so soon.

She said: "When the safety of children is in question rational decisions should be taken.

"The school has a duty of care to me and a duty of care to my child. It has fallen short of its obligations."

Mrs Ky says Isis who was ill with coughs and colds throughout the winter has already started to display symptoms of the cough, including a runny nose and a sore throat.

The full-time mum, who trained as a solicitor, added: "My daughter could be at serious risk. I'm not willing to take that chance, so she won't be going back to school."

The school says it fulfilled Health Protection Agency (HPA) criteria by withdrawing the children for at least five days while they took antibiotics.

A spokesman said: "It is not for me to say whether or not the cough will spread. All I can say is we have taken all precautions."

She added there was "no huge public health risk" to the school's pupils.

The HPA says whooping cough usually lasts between two to three months.

It is potentially fatal but cases are rare, with only 18 reported cases in Greenwich between 2001 and 2004.