[Photo: A general view of Alleyn's school in Dulwich, south-east London, where five pupils in year seven were confirmed as having influenza Swine flu, officially known as Influenza A (H1N1).]

BAD enough that she has to deal with the deadly H1N1 virus, 12-year-old Phoebe Wyburd has to contend with another problem - bullies.

Phoebe, one of six pupils infected at a London public school last week, says she has received phone calls and text messages saying she is 'going to die'.

Related link: » Slight sniffle? Tough! Your child must come to school

When it was confirmed on Monday that she had contracted the virus, Phoebe began receiving abusive texts, calls and emails, reported The Daily Telegraph.

She has also had threatening insults via the social networking site Facebook.

And she was not the only target.

Three of her sisters have had abusive messages saying they will get sick too.

Phoebe had caught the H1N1 virus from a classmate at the independent Alleyn's School in London.

That classmate had recently returned from the US.

But when reporters met her at her home, a smiling Phoebe said she was feeling better.

She said: 'I've been in bed most of the time... doing random things like playing with cards and computer games and watching loads of movies.

'I've been able to talk to my friends on the internet and on the phone. I miss my friends and I want to go back to school.'

While there have been supportive messages from some, others have shown 'ignorance', said Phoebe's parents.

Said dad Francis, 45: 'I do feel a bit like we've got the plague. Phoebe was upset by the first couple of texts, but once we explained she wasn't going to die she was OK.

'It is cyber-bullying. She knows some of the people who have been sending the messages, but quite a few of them were anonymous.

'She's just a 12-year-old child with a cold.

This article was first published in The New Paper.