Possible swine flu death: Tests continue
SARAH HALL
05 August 2009 15:00
Tests are still being carried out to find out whether a Norfolk businessman died from swine flu.
Jonathan Medler, 36, died suddenly last Tuesday after collapsing at his Aylsham home and although he was taking the antiviral drug Tamiflu health bosses have not yet confirmed whether he had the virus.
The father-of-one, who was the haulage manager of MA and HV Medler in Marsham, had recently returned from a short holiday at a villa in Spain he shared with his wife.
At the end of last week the region's strategic health authority confirmed a post mortem examination had been carried out but further tests are now in place.
A spokeswoman from the NHS East of England said: ?We are investigating the death of a middle-aged man from the Norfolk area. ?He had flu symptoms and had been given Tamiflu. However, health agencies are still investigating and we can not confirm whether he had the swine flu virus until those investigations are complete.?
The case has been passed on to the Norfolk coroner, William Armstrong, but an inquest cannot be formally held until further toxicology and microbiology tests are carried out.
Mr Armstrong said: ?The cause of death is still undetermined. Various tests are being carried out and until these are complete the details of the case cannot be released.?
Mr Medler built up the family haulage business into a major specialist haulier in just a few years and his mother, Margaret, and his older sister, Sarah Alston, had also been heavily involved in the expansion of the business. Mrs Alston and her farmer husband Andrew live about 20 yards across the lane from the office of the haulage company, and recently holidayed in Mexico for a fortnight.
Mr Medler, who was married about five years ago and has a three-year-old son with his wife, was the youngest of three children and his older brother Andrew runs the family farming business.
If it is proved Mr Medler's death was from swine flu - and he did not have a pre-existing illness - it would make him one of the few people who have died from it outside the ?high risk? category, which is people under five and over 65, pregnant women and those who already have had lung, heart or serious underlying medical conditions.
In Norfolk more than 5,300 doses of antiviral drugs were given out in July, out of a supply of about 90,000 and access to Tamiflu increased nearly two weeks ago when a new 24-hour antiviral collection point was established in Norwich, in addition to about 30 community pharmacists who already supply the drug.
http://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/cont...gory=news&itemid=NOED05 Aug 2009 07:52:37:357
SARAH HALL
05 August 2009 15:00
Tests are still being carried out to find out whether a Norfolk businessman died from swine flu.
Jonathan Medler, 36, died suddenly last Tuesday after collapsing at his Aylsham home and although he was taking the antiviral drug Tamiflu health bosses have not yet confirmed whether he had the virus.
The father-of-one, who was the haulage manager of MA and HV Medler in Marsham, had recently returned from a short holiday at a villa in Spain he shared with his wife.
At the end of last week the region's strategic health authority confirmed a post mortem examination had been carried out but further tests are now in place.
A spokeswoman from the NHS East of England said: ?We are investigating the death of a middle-aged man from the Norfolk area. ?He had flu symptoms and had been given Tamiflu. However, health agencies are still investigating and we can not confirm whether he had the swine flu virus until those investigations are complete.?
The case has been passed on to the Norfolk coroner, William Armstrong, but an inquest cannot be formally held until further toxicology and microbiology tests are carried out.
Mr Armstrong said: ?The cause of death is still undetermined. Various tests are being carried out and until these are complete the details of the case cannot be released.?
Mr Medler built up the family haulage business into a major specialist haulier in just a few years and his mother, Margaret, and his older sister, Sarah Alston, had also been heavily involved in the expansion of the business. Mrs Alston and her farmer husband Andrew live about 20 yards across the lane from the office of the haulage company, and recently holidayed in Mexico for a fortnight.
Mr Medler, who was married about five years ago and has a three-year-old son with his wife, was the youngest of three children and his older brother Andrew runs the family farming business.
If it is proved Mr Medler's death was from swine flu - and he did not have a pre-existing illness - it would make him one of the few people who have died from it outside the ?high risk? category, which is people under five and over 65, pregnant women and those who already have had lung, heart or serious underlying medical conditions.
In Norfolk more than 5,300 doses of antiviral drugs were given out in July, out of a supply of about 90,000 and access to Tamiflu increased nearly two weeks ago when a new 24-hour antiviral collection point was established in Norwich, in addition to about 30 community pharmacists who already supply the drug.
http://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/cont...gory=news&itemid=NOED05 Aug 2009 07:52:37:357
