Scottish swine flu mother in Swedish clinic is 'gravely ill'

Sharon Pentleton, from Ayrshire, who is due to give birth in October, is suffering from a rare and severe reaction to the H1N1 virus called adult respiratory distress syndrome.

The 26-year-old, who also has a two-year-old daughter, Kieva, was flown from Crosshouse Hospital in Kilmarnock to the Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm on Thursday.

She had been admitted to the Ayrshire hospital last week where she had been put on a ventilator.

In Sweden, she is undergoing a specialised procedure whereby her blood is being circulated outwith her body, with oxygen being added artificially.

The process, known as extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), is a relatively new technique used when a patient's lungs are functioning very poorly, even with ventilation and high levels of oxygen.

Although Britain has a national ECMO unit in Leicester, all five beds were being used, forcing health officials to transfer Ms Pentleton abroad.

Nicola Sturgeon, the health secretary, said Ms Pentleton, who lives in Saltcoats with her fianc, was in the best possible hands.

She said: "She's now getting treatment that gives her the best possible chance of survival."

A spokesman at the Stockholm hospital said her condition was "stable but still critical".

In a statement issued by Ms Pentleton's family said: "We are grateful for the care and support we have received from intensive care staff at Crosshouse Hospital, and of course to the medical care team who travelled from Sweden to start the specialist treatment that we hope will make her well. Sharon continues to receive the best possible treatment, but is still gravely ill."

Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation's assistant director general said nearly a third of the world's population is expected to be infected with swine flu.

Keiji Fukuda said it was a "reasonable" estimate that around two billion people would be affected by the pandemic.

He added that the virus has reached 160 countries, but stressed the overall spread of swine flu was still at a "pretty early" stage.

"Even if we have hundreds of thousands of cases or a few millions of cases, we're relatively early in the pandemic," he added.

Mr Fukuda said officials and drug manufacturers were investigating how to speed up the process of developing a vaccine against the H1N1 swine flu strain but the safety and efficacy of the drug had to be established before it was distributed. Vaccines are expected to be available for use by September.

The Foreign Office has revealed at least 160 Britons are in quarantine worldwide.

A spokeswoman said assistance was being given to people in China, Singapore, India and Egypt. Not all will be suffering from the virus. Some will have been quarantined after being in contact with people who are.

She said: "We are keeping in touch by phone with those in quarantine to check on their welfare, ensure they understand the procedures and to pass messages to and from relatives in the UK.

"Where we can we are also helping Britons in quarantine by arranging delivery of clothes, food, drinking water and books.

In a few cases, we have taken up concerns on their behalf."

There were also warnings yesterday the pandemic could overwhelm intensive care beds in England, especially in children's units.

HOW IT WORKS

EXTRACORPOREAL membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is an emerging treatment that recently finished the trial stage.

Used in combination with a conventional ventilator, it takes blood from the body, oxygenates it and then puts it back in.

Patients can receive treatment for up to two months if necessary, but the course usually lasts about two weeks.

Richard Firmin, a cardio-thoracic surgeon who is director of the ECMO unit in Glenfield Hospital, Leicester, said: "We put large bore cannulas in which allow oxygen to go in and carbon dioxide to be cleared out in an external circuit. The circuit is basically an external lung. Anybody who ends up with ECMO is at the severest end of lung failure."