A SCHOOLGIRL was hospitalised after catching the contagious norovirus TWICE in a fortnight.

Little Farell McMillan, 7, spent two days in hospital battling the winter vomiting bug after picking it up at her school which is currently experiencing an outbreak.

Several schools in both Glasgow City and East Dunbartonshire council areas have been managing outbreaks.

Glasgow Times:

Now Farell’s worried mum Frances Kerr, 44, has told her story to encourage parents to be aware of symptoms in the hope they follow a 48-hour rule to keep children home until norovirus has passed.

She said: “She took not well on October 30 and I kept her away from school.

“She felt unwell on the Wednesday night, I kept her off school Thursday and Friday then it was the weekend.

“Last Wednesday, again, two weeks later she came home really sick. Right through the night, she was extremely ill.

“We took her to hospital last Friday and she was kept in and put on a drip for two days.”

READ MORE: What are the symptoms of Norovirus? Advice for parents after Glasgow schools outbreak

Glasgow Times:

She added: “I think it is absolutely ridiculous, there should be a proper health warning issued to these schools.

“She has always been healthy and never had this.

“I was told by the hospital after a child has been sick you must keep them away from school for 48 hours. I don’t feel that the message is clear to parents.

“Something has to be done. I am a single parent and I have taken days off my work because of this.

“You don’t get paid when you're absent from work. How many single mothers and other parents are losing money because of this viral infection?”

Glasgow Times:

Farrell is in P3 at Thomas Muir Primary School in Bishopbriggs which is one of several schools at the centre of an outbreak.

The highly contagious virus causes vomiting or diarrhoea, or both. There is no specific treatment and the health board has advised parents to let it run its course.

Other symptoms include headaches, stomach cramps, aching limbs, and a raised temperature.

Farell’s sister Bailey, 15, a pupil at Bishopbriggs Academy has also been off sick with the illness.

In the same town, Balmuildy Primary School was forced to close this week.

Parents were asked to collect their children on Wednesday afternoon due to a lack of hot water.

The school added that pupils were reporting norovirus symptoms and hot water was essential for health and safety reasons. It reopened yesterday.

READ MORE: Glasgow school brings in specialist cleaners after bug outbreak leaves pupils sick

Glasgow Times:

Earlier this month, St Angela’s Primary School in Darnley sent in specialist cleaners after an outbreak.

At the time, the school said a deep spray clean with a 48 hour period of no contact had been done to kill any virus or germs.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, it emerged that Elmvale Primary School in Springburn was closed until today after a high number of pupils and staff had caught norovirus.

READ MORE: Children sent home from Balmuildy Primary School amid hot water issue

Glasgow Times:

Frances, from Bishopbriggs, said the shock of seeing her daughter lying in the hospital had encouraged her to want to raise awareness among parents.

She said: “The wee soul couldn’t even open her eyes. She was totally out of it.

“I actually got a fright when we took her in. The nurses were saying she was tired.

“As a parent, I was thinking how can she be tired. I was told her wee body was just exhausted.

“I could not have prevented that as I was giving her fluid every 15 minutes.

“The medical staff said no matter what I did as a parent, I did not wrong for her to be in the hospital.”

She added: “These schools should be deep cleaned at the weekend and parents need to keep their kids at home.

“I get childcare isn’t easy but the germs are just spreading.”

READ MORE: Norovirus outbreak at Bishopbriggs Thomas Muir school as parents told to keep kids at home

East Dunbartonshire Council confirmed that a deep clean has taken place at the school where Farell attends. The local authority added that staff have been reminding pupils about the importance of good hand and toilet hygiene.

Ann Davie, who is Depute Chief Executive, Education, People and Business, said: "When dealing with an outbreak of Norovirus in our schools, we follow the advice of NHS Public Health and put control measures in place in line with NHS guidance.

"Parents and carers of pupils at Thomas Muir Primary School were all contacted to advise them of the outbreak and to ensure that children displaying Norovirus symptoms were kept at home for 48 hours after symptoms subside.

"Parents were also issued with NHS guidance via e-mail.

"Intensive cleaning was carried out at the school over the weekend and this week the majority of pupils have returned to school.

"Staff have been reminding pupils about good hand and toilet hygiene and are continuing to monitor the situation."

Dr Linda de Caestecker, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde’s Director of Public Health, said:  “Norovirus, sometimes known as the ‘winter vomiting bug’, is the most common stomach bug in the UK, affecting people of all ages. 
“It is highly contagious and is transmitted by contact with contaminated surfaces, an infected person, or consumption of contaminated food or water.
“The symptoms of norovirus are very distinctive – people often report a sudden onset of nausea, followed by projectile vomiting and watery diarrhoea. 
“Most people with norovirus will make a full recovery in one to two days. It is important to keep hydrated – especially children and the elderly. 
“Good hand hygiene using soap and water is important to stop the spread of the virus. It is also important that people heed advice to stay off work or school for 48 hours after they are clear of symptoms, in order to limit the spread of this nasty virus.
“We are sorry to hear that this girl needed to be admitted to hospital and hope she is now recovering well.”