A CASE of Scarlet Fever has now been confirmed at a Poole infant school, in addition to schools in Bournemouth and Christchurch.

Stanley Green Infant Academy, which has children aged from four to seven, sent letters home to parents on Thursday advising them that one child at the school had been diagnosed with the infection, and of the signs to look out for.

Principal Angela Malanczuk said: “We have had one confirmed case. We received advice from the Health Protection Agency a while ago about the potential issue and advised staff, and put advice on the website for parents.

"Because we have quite young children we wanted to be proactive and advise parents to be vigilant about the signs and symptoms, and to go to our website for further information.”

Earlier this week parents at Christchurch Infants and Christchurch Junior and St Peter’s senior school in Southbourne were also advised of confirmed cases.

Cases of Scarlet fever have been on the rise in the area – and nationally. Public Health England (PHE) said there have been 302 cases in Wessex in the "season" from September to March, compared with 119 in the same period last year. Confirmed cases in Bournemouth jumped from five to 15.

Across England there have been roughly 6,000 confirmed cases since September. It is the second season in a row with “exceptionally high numbers” according to Public Health England, after last year saw the highest number of cases since the 1960s - more than 14,000 - instead of the average of up to 4,000.

This common childhood infection is us usually mild and can be treated with antibiotics, although there is there is a small risk of the infection spreading to other parts of the body, such as the ear, sinuses and lungs.

The NHS advice is that early symptoms include a sore throat, headache, and fever with the characteristic red pinhead rash that feels like sandpaper to touch appearing after 12 to 48 hours.

Other symptoms may include: •Swollen neck glands •Loss of appetite •Nausea or vomiting •Red lines in the folds of the body, such as the armpit. •A white coating on the tongue, which peels a few days later leaving the tongue red and swollen •A general feeling of being unwell