Scots girl, 15, is latest victim of swine flu

Published on Tuesday 21 July 2009 21:59

A TEENAGE girl has become the youngest person in Scotland to die after contracting swine flu. The 15-year-old, who had underlying health problems, had been admitted to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow a week ago.

She is the fourth patient in Scotland who had been suffering from the H1N1 virus to die. It takes the total number of UK deaths to 30.

The news came as the World Health Organisation (WHO) revealed the global death toll linked to swine flu had jumped to more than 700.

Health secretary Nicola Sturgeon said: "The tragic death of this young girl is devastating for her family and friends, and I'd like to express my sincere condolences.

"As we have seen in previous cases, this patient was suffering from underlying health conditions and her death should not cause alarm among the general population.

"Fortunately for the vast majority of people who have H1N1, they will experience relatively mild symptoms and make a full recovery. The latest figures for Scotland also show that, while the virus continues to circulate, the rates remain relatively low."

The Scottish Government said that, at the family's request, no further details about the girl would be released.

The Westminster government has warned the number of deaths from the virus in the UK this winter could reach between 19,000 and 65,000.

But the estimates are based on a worst-case scenario and compare with an average of 12,000 seasonal flu deaths each year.

Yesterday, the results of a post-mortem examination on a six-year-old girl from west London, who died after contracting swine flu, showed she had died of septic shock following a bout of tonsillitis.

Chloe Buckley died on 9 July at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington after suffering from the throat infection, which was caused by streptococcus A bacterium.

Dr Simon Tanner, regional director of public health for London, said: "Chloe was also found to have the swine flu H1N1 virus. It is not possible to say to what degree swine flu contributed to her death.

"We would once again like to extend our deepest condolences to Chloe's family at this difficult time and ask that the media respect their wishes to be allowed to come to terms with their loss in private."

A post-mortem examination on Bedfordshire GP Michael Day, who died on 11 July, showed swine flu was a "significant contributory factor in his death".

Dr Day, who was 64, also suffered a blood clot to the lungs and was known to have heart disease and high blood pressure.

The WHO said the number of deaths reported worldwide had jumped from 429 two weeks ago to more than 700.

In the UK, an estimated 55,000 people are being newly diagnosed with the virus each week.

In a briefing note last week, the WHO said "further spread of the pandemic, within affected countries and to new countries, is considered inevitable".

It said the current pandemic "has spread internationally with unprecedented speed". It added: "In past pandemics, influenza viruses have needed more than six months to spread as widely as the new H1N1 virus has spread in less than six weeks."

While most people with the virus have experienced only mild symptoms, it is causing complications in some people, especially those with underlying health conditions.

The UN body said it was examining how countries could tackle the explosion in cases predicted for the autumn, when students and workers return from summer holidays. Although the disease was "unstoppable" in the long-term, slowing its spread was important to prevent hospitals being overwhelmed by the sheer number of new cases.

The WHO has stopped asking countries to report infections, saying it was "extremely difficult, if not impossible" for those with large numbers of cases to keep track of each new one.

Last week, figures suggested that rates of swine flu were not rising at the same rate in Scotland as in England.

A National Pandemic Flu Service, to centralise the distribution of antiviral drugs, is being established in England but has not been set in action north of the Border due to the slower spread of the virus.

However, there was more evidence yesterday that people in Scotland continue to be concerned about the pandemic.

Figures showed that health phone line NHS 24 is continuing to see an increase in calls linked to swine flu, with calls up 30 per cent on predictions for this time of year.

In the week to Sunday, NHS 24 received 32,087 calls to its core service, up from 29,449 the previous week. In addition, its Scottish Flu Response Centre had 9,988 calls – up from 5,394.

John Turner, the service's chief executive, said: "NHS 24 is currently coping with the additional demands on our services as a result of the swine flu outbreak.

"Our priority is to ensure we meet the needs of the people of Scotland and our staff are working very hard to provide a high-quality service at all times."

TRAGIC TOLL

THE death of a teenager in Glasgow is the fourth linked to swine flu in Scotland:

&#149 On 14 June Jacqueline Fleming,38, died from swine flu – the first outside the Americas. The Glaswegian had underlying health problems and died at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley. She had given birth prematurely to her son just two weeks earlier. He died the day after his mother but did not have swine flu.

&#149 On 28 June, a 73-year-old man's death was related to swine flu. The pensioner, from the Inverclyde area, died in Paisley's Royal Alexandra Hospital. He lhad "serious underlying health conditions".

&#149 On 16 July a 60-year-old tourist died in hospital in Inverness after contracting swine flu. The woman, who had "significant underlying medical conditions" died at Raigmore Hospital yesterday evening.