Family: We feel under attack for spreading it

The family of the teenager who played soccer after returning from a school trip to Mexico say they now feel under attack.

"We feel responsible that we have exposed people and we are also being somewhat attacked for it," the teen's mother, who asked not to be named, told the Herald yesterday.

"We are all running a bit scared because now the media are all after us."

The teenager has also received text messages attacking him.

The Rangitoto College student returned home on Saturday morning and had symptoms of what his mother says is a mild respiratory illness.

Ten of his group of 22 students and three teachers have tested positive for influenza A and are awaiting further results from a Melbourne laboratory to say whether it is the new swine flu.

The teenager played soccer for his East Coast Bays under-17 first division team on Saturday afternoon.

His mother said he saw a doctor before the game - the clinic waiting room was full of Rangitoto students from the Mexico trip - but was given no indication the family should be quarantined at home as they are now.

It was only at 10pm that she started to realise the seriousness of the situation. "That's when the public health nurses rang and said they were coming to take throat and nose swabs. Fortunately we hadn't been anywhere else.

"As soon as we knew, we sent an email to everybody we made contact with on Saturday saying, 'If you are worried, go to your doctor and you can get prescribed Tamiflu.' I don't know of anybody who has gone and done that.

"The exposure has not come from just this family. I know another family said they went down to the supermarket. A child from another family has gone back to university."

The woman said her son arrived home with a cough - "a small, upper respiratory infection. It's getting better."

The boy's soccer coach, Hans Corporaal, said he arranged a substitute with the club after the mother said her son would not be playing, and was then surprised when the teen turned up.

Mr Corporaal said that because the boy reported that his doctor had cleared him to play, he put him on. He played three-quarters of the match and scored a goal.

Mr Corporaal had heard of swine flu by Saturday afternoon, but at that stage knew little about it.

Club secretary Marie Gisby said practices for two East Coast Bays teams affected were cancelled last night because of the flu scare, and player lists had been sent to health authorities.