School children returning to the classrooms is expected to drive a surge in sickness in the coming weeks. The UK Health Security Agency monitors the levels of illness circulating via its sentinel “spotter” laboratories. It has issued four key bits of advice for families to protect themselves against norovirus and flu. It said norovirus activity in the past fortnight is more than double the five-season average for the same two-week period while flu is steadily increasing. Dr Richard Pebody,