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A 'swine flu' warning has been sounded by Ministry of Health officials anticipating a higher number of H1N1 virus cases when residents return from their summer travels at the beginning of the new academic school year.
A poster and leaflet blitz has been staged across the kingdom outside school premises and inside malls offering health advice.
Families will be travelling to different corners of the globe for vacations; some will go to their home countries to meet up with relatives while others will set off for sightseeing and summer fun.
Dr Muna Al Musawi, chief of diseases control at the Ministry of Health said: "September is the beginning of winter in many Western countries which is usually the time when cases of the seasonal flu are at their highest.
So far Bahrain has witnessed 19 cases of swine flu, 15 have been treated and released and four new cases were reported this week.
"This year along with cases of seasonal flu we are expecting a peak of H1N1 virus cases. In case of an outbreak and cases of direct internal transmission then we will be compelled to close schools and place restrictions on certain areas.
"At the moment we are providing general recommendations to travellers and are insisting that general hygiene should be stepped up."
As the last few schools break for the summer vacations on the island parents are questioning the possibility of H1N1 or the swine flu outbreak in schools when institutions reopen for the new September term.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has placed no travel restrictions on any country but has issued a 'pandemic alert' for the H1N1 virus and is predicting a major increase in cases over the coming months. In line with WHO and Centres for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention in Atlanta, the Ministry of Health in Bahrain is taking its own precautionary measures.
"As there is no vaccine for H1N1 virus, the basic principle for prevention is education. Our aim is to protect the people through lectures, seminars, activities in malls, distributing information leaflets and educating health care workers to educate the wider population," said Dr Musawi.
Bill Frost, director of the British School in Bahrain, said: "We are in contact with the Ministry of Health on a daily basis. To date we have had no specific directive from the Ministry but we have all our communication procedures in place in case we do get instructions from them.
"School authorities will post any information sent by the ministry during the summer months on our website or send text messages to our parents to inform them of any crucial information."
St Christopher's School is urging parents to keep their children at home when they return to Bahrain if they are experiencing flu-type symptoms or have come into contact with swine flu sufferers and are feeling ill.
Edward Goodwin, principal of St Christopher's School, in a letter to parents before they break up for the long school holidays, said: "Around 80 per cent of all St Christopher's families will be going on holidays all over the world, some to countries which may be in the high risk category for swine flu.
"Over the summer we will be purchasing significant stocks of tissues and hand sanitising liquid. We will also be working with our cleaning contractors to increase the frequency with which door handles, taps etc are disinfected.
"We are putting procedures into place for school nurses, to apply in the event that a suspected case arrives at school." He said it was 'vital' that children stay at home at the start of the new school term if they are showing signs of the virus which include high temperature, cough, sore throat, headache, runny nose, joint pain, fatigue, vomiting and diarrhoea.
