LONDON: As schools around the world reopen, health authorities are bracing for a major spike in H1N1 flu.

Schools are ideal breeding grounds for the virus. Not only are children more susceptible than adults to H1N1 flu, but the crowded, sometimes unsanitary conditions gives the virus a perfect chance to spread.

Countries on both sides of the Atlantic are closely monitoring schools, yet some have vastly different plans on whether they will close schools to fight the epidemic.