Many Dunedin schools continue to be hampered by absenteeism this week as flu symptoms seem to be lingering longer than usual this year.
Outram School appears to have been particularly hard hit, with about 55 of the school's 240 pupils off school ill on Tuesday.
Principal Jeremy Marshall said the bug was essentially hitting one class at a time and steadily making its way through the school.
Abbotsford School has also been hard hit, with 37 of its 280 pupils ill yesterday.
Principal Stephanie Madden said coughs, sore throats, head colds and aches were putting children out of action for up to a week.
"They seem to go down for a couple of days, then they look like they are coming right again. But then they get sick again."
A virus had added vomiting and diarrhoea to the equation.
Andersons Bay School office manager Robyn Parker said up to 25 pupils had been off sick at any one time during the past two weeks, and there did not seem to be any end in sight.
She believed the illness was more persistent this year, compared with previous years.
"Quite often, pupils are off in winter for a couple of days. But this year, it's not unusual for them to be off for a week.
"We've even had a pupil hospitalised due to a virus."
Green Island School principal Steve Hayward agreed illness in schools had lingered longer than usual this year, but parents had been the key to slowing the spread of illness at his school.
"We've been having up to 30 children absent each day due to illness for the past couple of weeks, but now we're down to about 15 per day.
"Parents have been most co-operative in keeping sick children at home. It's helping to slow the spread of illness."
George Street Normal School principal Rod Galloway said his school appeared to be over the worst.
Late last month, about 60 of the school's 437 pupils were absent on one day, but absentee rates appeared to be returning to normal, he said.
