Critically ill man's wife and child also have swine flu

Published on Friday 29 May 2009 22:24

TWO more cases of swine flu were confirmed in Scotland yesterday, as a man remained critically ill in hospital.

The Scottish Government said the new cases were the wife and child of the patient, Kerishan Singh, 37, who is in a "critical but stable" condition at Victoria Infirmary in Glasgow

Scotland has 16 confirmed cases of swine flu. Yesterday, a further six probable and eight possible cases remained under investigation.

Other members of Mr Singh's family are among the probable cases and await tests results.

Health secretary Nicola Sturgeon said: "While this is clearly a difficult time for the family concerned, I would like to reassure people that the risk to the general public remains low.

"However, it is important that we remain vigilant as we continue to limit the spread of the virus and I would encourage people to continue to adopt simple hygiene precautions."

Earlier yesterday, two primary school pupils in Glasgow were said to be among probable cases of the H1N1 virus.

The children – an 11-year- old P6 pupil and an eight-year-old in P4 – both attend Annette Street Primary School.

Tamiflu is being given to children who may have been exposed to the virus.

Meanwhile, in Lothian there was one probable case in an American man who arrived in Edinburgh via Dublin.

NHS Lothian is also testing a boy who attends Eton College for the virus, who returned to Edinburgh yesterday.

The private school has been closed due to a case of swine flu.

A further 12 cases of swine flu were diagnosed in England yesterday, taking the total for the UK as a whole to 215.