HUNDREDS of pupils at a North-East school have been given antiviral drugs after three of their classmates tested positive for swine flu.

News that three year seven pupils at Teesside High School, in Eaglescliffe, near Stockton, have Influenza A type H1N1 came on the day it was confirmed that a firefighter based at Durham Tees Valley Airport has also tested positive for swine flu.

The firefighter, who lives in County Durham, is the second confirmed case of swine flu in the county.

Airport bosses reassured passengers that their health would not be at risk after the man fell ill at work last week.

The four new cases confirmed in the region yesterday took the North-East total to six.

Another 12 pupils at the feepaying independent school have suspected swine flu and are currently being tested.

The school, which has decided to close for the rest of the week, alerted Health Protection Agency (HPA) officials after a group of youngsters came down with flulike symptoms.

Yesterday, the school, which has 374 pupils aged from three to 18 and 59 full and part-time staff, was closed to all but older pupils sitting GCSE and A-level examinations.

The exams went ahead after special measures were put in place, including extra space between pupils’ desks.

After the school was disinfected, everyone entering or leaving has had to wash their hands using a medicated detergent.

Headteacher Thomas Packer said the reaction of parents, who were telephoned over the weekend, had been “magnificent”.

“Fortunately, we have a contagious illness policy and our parents were briefed about this only four weeks ago,” he said.

The school opened between 1pm and 6pm on Sunday so parents could pick up supplies of Tamiflu pills for their children.

The school, founded in 1875, has pupils from Sunderland, West Durham and the North York Moors.

Professor Peter Kelly, public health director for Teesside, warned that more cases could be confirmed at the school.

Officials from NHS Stockton-on- Tees are trying to identify the source of the outbreak and trace contacts.

It is understood that the airport firefighter who tested positive had been on holiday in Las Vegas shortly before his illness.

County Durham’s first swine flu victim – Daniel Thompson, from Spennymoor, who was also in Las Vegas recently – is now said to be “feeling well”.

A spokeswoman for the airport said the firefighter had a “mild case” of swine flu and the HPA had advised them that there was “no risk posed to either staff or passengers passing through the airport”.

A 24-year-old soldier from Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire, is also recovering from swine flu.