The Department of Health and Human Services confirmed Tuesday, May 12, that a 10-year-old student from Bedford tested positive for H1N1, also known as swine flu.

The student is among 17 known cases in the state as of Tuesday, May 12, according to the department. Superintendent Tim Mayes said the 10-year-old is a student at the McKelvie Intermediate School. Mayes said the state had determined that no other children were at risk.

“We were told the student was not a risk and never was a risk to the other students,” Mayes said.

Mayes said the school district followed state guidelines in dealing with the situation. He said the student was out of school for most of the previous week. He returned to classes Monday, May 11, after 24 hours had passed with no symptoms, according to Mayes. He said he did not know how the 10-year-old had contracted the disease.

So far, there are no other cases of that flu in Bedford, according to the latest list of cases available from the state.

Mayes said the district had been told to operate normally, as if it were in typical flu season, and refer students who are ill to their primary care physicians. Any student who is ill or has flu-like symptoms during the school day will be sent home.

News of swine flu in Bedford first broke on May 7, when the 10-year-old was identified by the state as a probable case. On that date, there were only three confirmed cases of the illness in New Hampshire.

So far, Mayes said, the district has not been contacted by a lot of worried parents.

“We really haven’t had a lot of inquiries in recent days about it,” he said.

For more information about precautions being taken against the swine flu in Bedford schools, visit www.sau25.net.