“Some people have been bad,” he said. “But in most people it’s not too severe. Quite often we’ve seen people back in work within a few days.

“At the moment this is not as bad as the usual seasonal flu that we see. But we need to be cautious at the moment.

“Compared to what we were expecting when it first broke out in Mexico it hasn’t been nearly as bad.”

Dr Richard Harling, director of public health in Worcestershire, said two pupils in Year 8 at Nunnery Wood High School were the latest to be diagnosed with the virus.

“At the moment the decision is for the school to re-open on Monday but we will be keeping this situation under constant review,” he said.

A member of staff at Sutton College has tested positive for swine flu and another two went home on Monday with “flu-like symptoms”.

All three are based at the college’s Josiah Mason campus, in Erdington, which has about 1,800 students.

A notice sent out to staff from the college’s executive director Clive Hill said the campus would remain open and the woman had now recovered.

He said: “We have been in regular contact and are pleased to report that her flu symptoms subsided relatively quickly and she is now feeling well. Her GP, with the advice of the Health Protection Agency (HPA), has advised that as she is now symptom free, that there will be no need to treat her, or her close family and that she may return to work.”

The total UK number of swine flu cases is now 1,462.