“There is an inconsistency in which schools are being closed and what parents are being told. Parents came in to see an assembly at a school and brought in baby siblings without being told there was a confirmed case. People need to know what is happening.”

Mr Tariq, speaking on behalf of the HPA, said: “When swine flu started to infiltrate the region, the approach was about containment, but if the virus has already come into a community, a school closure won’t help slow that spread. People will still be exposed to it whatever happens.

“The approach between areas differs and depends on whether there is wide-spread transmission. Birmingham has wide-spread transmission.

“A new information leaflet is being printed right now and is being sent out to parents within days explaining why a school is not being closed.

“It’s likely we won’t see so many schools closing on HPA advice as swine flu progresses unless it is due to operational reasons, like not enough staff well enough to work.”

Dr Helen Carter, public health consultant for NHS West Midlands Health Authority, said there was a move to change the way the disease was being handled.

“The virus is behaving differently to how we had expected and we’re not seeing the spread we anticipated and planned for,” said Dr Carter.

“In very localised areas we’re moving to treating people without doing swab tests, but simply by doing clinical diagnosis without laboratory tests.

“People will see a reduction in swabbing, but they will still get treatment.”

She added that although swine flu was on the rise, health chiefs aimed to try and control its spread while further stocks of Tamiflu were being produced, which takes four months to manufacture each batch of drug.

Schools currently closed across the West Midlands include Wilkes Green Infants, in Handsworth; Barford Primary, in Edgbaston; City Road Primary, in Rotton Park; Benson Community Primary, Hockley; Nansen Primary, Saltley; Lakey Lane School, Hall Green; Yardleys School, Tyseley; Summerfield Primary, in Winson Green; St Martin de Porres, Moseley; The College High, Erdington; Cardinal Wiseman Catholic, Kingstanding; Shireland Collegiate Academy Smethwick and George Dixon International School, Edgbaston.

Education bosses have also been forced to close Matthew Boulton Community Primary, in Handsworth, and Parkfield Primary, in Saltley, due to staff shortages because of swine flu.

Two cases of swine flu have been confirmed at Stanley Road Primary School in Worcester, which is being kept open.