Girl, 16, may be new victim of swine flu (Scotland)

[HenryN]

<TABLE class=artContainer cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=artHeadline>Girl, 16, may be new victim of swine flu</TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#c1c1c1></TD></TR><TR><TD> </TD></TR><TR><!-- storyText has no width attribute --><TD class=storyText vAlign=top><!-- START IMAGE TABLE --><!-- END IMAGE TABLE --><!-- STORY TEXT HERE --><!-- article_text -->A 16-YEAR-OLD girl is being classed as the latest "probable" case of swine flu in Greenock.
However, Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who is also Scottish Health Secretary, said there was "no obvious connection" between the teenager and any other confirmed or probable cases in the town.
She said if no link emerges between the girl and any other cases, it could be the first evidence of "community transmission" in Scotland.
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The news follows the closing of a nursery school and a primary for a week.
As reported in yesterday's Evening Times, Ladybird Nursery shut its doors to pupils less than 24 hours after Ravenscraig Primary became the first school in Scotland to close because of the swine flu outbreak.
A total of 80 youngsters at the nursery are being given the anti-viral drug Tamiflu as a precaution after a three-year-old was diagnosed as a "probable" case.
Ms Sturgeon said the three-year-old, and a five-year-old boy who attends Ravenscraig, are both linked to a 19-year-old man from Greenock who tested positive for swine flu.
Some parents were at the nursery to get advice from health officials.
Claire Forbes, whose son goes to Ladybird, said they had been told to keep their children indoors.
"The doctors are going to come to get a set of tablets and swabs done," she added.
"They asked if we had any symptoms. I said he's got a sniffly nose and he's got asthma, so he's had his cough. I don't know if it's swine flu or just a normal cold. I'm worried now."
In all there are 14 possible swine flu cases across Scotland, seven of them travel-related.
The breakdown of the possible cases by health boards stands at six in Greater Glasgow and Clyde, one in Ayrshire and Arran, two in Fife, two in the Highlands and three in the Lothians.
The total number of confirmed cases in Scotland remains at five.

Publication date 14/05/09

http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/display.var.2508076.0.girl_16_may_be_new_victim_of_swine_flu.php

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[HenryN]

Re: Girl, 16, may be new victim of swine flu (Scotland)

-- GREENOCK Remains Centre Of Swine Flu Outbreak
14 May 2009


GREENOCK remains at the centre of the swine flu outbreak in Scotland, health secretary Nicola Sturgeon told Parliament today.
As well as having the four 'probable' cases of the virus, Greenock is heavily involved with the further 12 'possible' cases in Scotland, she revealed.
Ms Sturgeon said: "All four probable, and many of the possible cases, are in or connected to <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 /><st1:place w:st="on">Greenock</st1:place>."

http://www.inverclydenow.com/news-detail4.asp?ID=2890

[HenryN]

Re: Girl, 16, may be new victim of swine flu (Scotland)

No cause for alarm over latest swine flu alert, says Sturgeon

Minister praises understanding parents after school and nursery closed

By Scott Macnab and Hilary Duncanson
Published: 14/05/2009





PRECAUTIONS: Ladybird nursery pupil Joshua McDonald and his grandmother Alice Curran with their Tamiflu yesterday

More Pictures






Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon insisted yesterday there was no cause for alarm after the closure of a primary school and nursery in Greenock because of suspected swine flu.
Meanwhile, a 16-year-old girl in Greenock became the latest probable case in Scotland.
Two children ? a boy aged five and a three-year-old ? were found to be probable cases on Tuesday, and health officials have closed Ravenscraig Primary School and Ladybird nursery for a week.
But Ms Sturgeon said yesterday: ?There remains no reason for people to be alarmed. We?re still dealing with small numbers of cases and focus remains very much on containment.?
She praised the ?understanding? attitude of parents towards the closure.
?All of the experience to date says that the symptoms of this virus are mild ? mild, of course, in the context of flu,? she said. ?So people will be feeling ill, but they?re not symptoms that are causing any concern.?
The circumstances surrounding the case of the 16-year-old girl were being investigated, the minister said.
?At this stage we have no obvious connection between this individual and the confirmed case in Greenock and any of the other probable cases in Greenock.?
If no link emerges between the girl and other cases it could be the first evidence of ?community transmission?, said Ms Sturgeon.
She said it may be today before results come through on the probable Scottish cases.
The total number of confirmed cases in Scotland remains at five. There are 14 possible cases ? seven of them travel-related.
The breakdown of possible cases by health boards is two in the Highlands, two in Fife, six in Greater Glasgow and Clyde, three in the Lothians and one in Ayrshire and Arran.
The Greenock school was the first closure in Scotland prompted by the flu alert. The nursery closed yesterday morning.
The five-year-old boy?s mother, 45, has also been classed as a probable case.
And, with the three-year-old child, they are linked to a 19-year-old victim in Greenock who was confirmed with the virus at the weekend.
Four other contacts of the boy?s mother are showing symptoms and are being classed as possible cases.
The boy also attended an after-school club where Ms Sturgeon said 17 children were being treated with Tamiflu.
They are being asked not to return to the after-school club or to their schools for seven days.
Older children and staff in the Ladybird nursery who have had close contact with the three-year-old child will be offered Tamiflu.
Three more people were diagnosed with swine flu yesterday, taking the number of confirmed cases in the UK to 71, the Health Protection Agency (HPA) said.
The latest people confirmed with the virus are a child from the east of England and a child and an adult from London.
The HPA said all three were linked to people who had already been confirmed with the virus.

http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Art...215926?UserKey=

[HenryN]

Re: Girl, 16, may be new victim of swine flu (Scotland)

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