Four Pendle pupils diagnosed with hepatitis A (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Four Pendle pupils diagnosed with hepatitis A

4:20pm Monday 26th July 2010 in Reedley

DOZENS of pupils at a Pendle primary school have been immunised against hepatitis A after four classmates were diagnosed with the condition.

Four youngsters at Reedley Primary have contracted the condition, which is mainly caught through contaminated drinking water or food.

Health protection officials have ordered an immunisation programme for two classes at the Reedley Road school, and members of the children’s immediate family.

The reception and Year Three classes were affected.

Dr Sohail Ashraf, from the Health Protection Agency's Lancashire and Cumbria unit confirmed that three of the children involved had recently been abroad to Asia, where infection rates of hepatitis A remain high.

The condition can cause vomiting, diarrhoea, dizzyness and lethargy.