NANAIMO - Aspengrove School in Nanaimo says it is noticing a spike in the number of children staying home. "Last Monday was probably our highest number of absences at about 30 percent," Aspengrove's Elizabeth Ray said. But she added not all of those absences were because of the flu.

There have been a number of confirmed cases at the school. Barbara Bell's son just returned to his grade seven class after a 10-day bout with swine flu. "It was pretty wicked," Bell said, who is still feeling the effects of the virus.

Aspengrove isn't taking any chances when it comes to limited the spread of germs. At the end of every day desks, door knobs and other surfaces are sprayed down with a disinfectant. The school also been sending out a weekly advisory reminding parents to keep their children at home if they show signs of the flu. And staff are being advised to spot student who appear sick, and contact their parents.