Urgent Action Needed to Quell Flu in Schools
PRESS RELEASE - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ISSUED 30/11/2025
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Urgent Action Needed to Quell Spread of Flu in Schools
Flu is spreading earlier than last year, with children heavily impacted.
Public health advice to schools should be updated to account for airborne transmission of flu.
Clean Air Advocacy Ireland (CAAI) has written to Dr Abigail Collins, the HSE’s clinical lead on child public health, and to Hildegarde Naughton, the Minister for Education and Youth, to ask that public health advice to schools be urgently updated to reduce the spread of the current flu wave.
The appeal comes in the wake of a warning last week from Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) that its emergency departments and urgent care centres had witnessed a surge in presentations of children with flu-like symptoms.
CAAI is calling on Dr Collins to overhaul her recent advice to schools, issued on October 9th 2025, which informed parents that their children could continue to attend school “even if they have any or all of the following symptoms: minor cough, runny nose, mild sore throat.”
Given that the symptoms outlined above can be the early signs of a flu infection, and that children with those symptoms may be infectious to others, Dr Collins has been asked to revert to the public health advice which she previously issued to schools in 2022 and 2023 that stated:
“The most important measure is to stay home if you are unwell. Children with symptoms are more likely to spread infections. For example, they may spread flu or bacterial infections. Staying home when unwell will help prevent spread to other children, families and staff.”
In addition to advising parents to keep symptomatic children at home, CAAI wants schools to be properly informed about how to reduce the spread of common airborne illnesses, including flu, RSV, and Covid-19. This advice includes:
Keeping classrooms well ventilated - through mechanical or natural means - to avoid the build-up of stale air that may be loaded with airborne pathogens. This can be achieved by keeping some windows ajar and through “flushing” the classroom with fresh air at regular intervals - especially during breaks - by opening all of the windows for a few minutes.
Using air filters in classrooms. Mechanical air filters or air purifiers, especially those with HEPA filters, can remove pathogens from the air - along with allergens such as dust and pollen.
Using CO2 monitors to measure indoor air quality. These simple devices can display the carbon dioxide levels in classrooms, and this can indicate when the windows need to be opened or when the classroom needs to be flushed. CO2 levels should be kept below 800ppm.
“Flu has hit Ireland almost a month earlier than last year,” says Kieran Ryan of CAAI,” and we know that school-acquired infections can lead to flu spreading in the wider community, with children bringing an infection home to their siblings, parents, and older relatives.”
“It would be prudent to issue updated public health advice to schools immediately to try to reduce transmission of flu, or else we can expect a severe flu season that will have a major impact across schools, hospitals, and other parts of our society.”
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References:
Children’s Health Ireland warns of a significant rise in flu among children. https://www.thejournal.ie/flu-kids-childrens-health-ireland-temple-street-6886096-Nov2025/
Airborne transmission of flu:
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5006288/A large-scale study of 320,073 households, looking at the transmission of viruses over a three-year period between October 2019 and October 2022, found that children were the index case (the first to display symptoms) in 70.4% of household transmissions, and that the rates of transmission dropped during school breaks: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2805468
