Scotland : 17-year-old pregnant girl dies of swine flu

[Gert van der Hoek]

17-year-old pregnant girl dies of swine flu

Teenager becomes the 15th victim of swine flu in Scotland.

15 October 2009

STV New has learned that a 17-year-old pregnant Scottish girl has died of Swine Flu. It is not known if she was suffering any underlying health problems. Details of where she was from have not yet been revealed.

The teenager is the 15th to die of Swine Flu in Scotland since the H1N1 outbreak earlier this year.

Earlier this week the Scottish Government confirmed that another two people had died after contracting swine flu.

The two victims were a 48-year-old man from Greater Glasgow and Clyde and an 81-year-old Fife woman.

The Government said no further details about the patients would be released at the request of the victims' families.The 48-year-old patient had "significant underlying health conditions" that contributed to his death, and H1N1 was a "contributory factor" in the death of the pensioner.

Statistics released last week showed the number of people being admitted to hospital in Scotland with swine flu has reached a record high.

Thirty six people with the bug were admitted to hospital last week - the largest weekly intake since the outbreak began. The figure takes the number of people being hospitalised in Scotland since the start of the outbreak to 208.


Last updated: 15 October 2009,

http://news.stv.tv/scotland/130384-17-year-old-pregnant-girl-dies-of-swine-flu/

 

[ming]

Re: Scotland : 17-year-old pregnant girl dies of swine flu

Rumours that she was from here, the Scottish Borders region.

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: Scotland : 17-year-old pregnant girl dies of swine flu

Swine flu kills pregnant teenager


A total of 15 people in Scotland have now died from swine flu

A pregnant teenager from the Borders has become the 15th person in Scotland to die from swine flu.

The 17-year-old is understood to have died in the past 24 hours though no further details have been released.

Pregnant women are known to be at greater risk of complications from swine flu.

The latest death comes as estimated statistics showed a sharp rise in the number of people contracting swine flu in Scotland.

The figure is estimated to have jumped from just under 7000 to 12,500 last week.


Last week also saw 64 people admitted to Scottish hospitals with swine flu, the highest figure since the outbreak began.

Pregnant women will be among the priority groups for the swine flu vaccine when it becomes available later this month.

Due to the sudden nature of the teenager's death in the Borders, a report has gone to the Procurator Fiscal.

Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said: "The death of this young mother-to-be and her baby is deeply saddening and my thoughts are with her family and friends.

"Medical experts have been telling us that pregnant women are more vulnerable to developing complications after contracting the virus.
"For this reason, they will be among the priority groups for vaccination when the H1N1 vaccine becomes available later this month."
'Maximum protection'

Ms Sturgeon urged all pregnant women to get vaccinated in order to ensure "maximum protection" for themselves and their babies.

She said: "While there is no evidence to suggest that the virus is becoming any more dangerous for the public at large, this tragic death highlights that some groups are at greater risk and should take up the offer of vaccination."


source; BBC news

 

[TrueScotsman]

Re: Scotland : 17-year-old pregnant girl dies of swine flu

Source : Skynews

A pregnant teenager has died after contracting swine flu.

The 17-year-old, who was from the Scottish Borders, has not yet been named.

When she contracted influenza A (H1N1), she was already pregnant, which makes women more likely to face difficulties related to the virus.

Following the death, Scotland's Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon urged all pregnant women to get vaccinated to protect themselves and their babies.

She said: "The death of this young mother-to-be and her baby is deeply saddening and my thoughts are with her family and friends."

"Medical experts have been telling us that pregnant women are more vulnerable to developing complications after contracting the virus.

"For this reason, they will be among the priority groups for vaccination when the H1N1 vaccine becomes available later this month."

Due to the sudden nature of this death, a report has been sent to the procurator fiscal, the official who investigates sudden fatalities, a government spokesman said.

The latest figures for Scotland reveal the number of community samples that tested positive for H1N1 has increased to 29.3 per cent from 16.4 per cent last week.

There have been fifteen deaths linked to the virus since the start of the outbreak in the country.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK...ant_Teenager_Dies_After_Contracting_Swine_Flu

 

[Pathfinder]

Re: Scotland : 17-year-old pregnant girl dies of swine flu

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October 16, 2009


Swine flu vaccinations announced as pregnant girl with virus dies

Sam Lister, Health Editor

A pregnant teenager has become the 106th Briton to die after contracting swine flu, it was confirmed yesterday as the Department of Health announced that a national vaccination campaign will start next week.

Sir Liam Donaldson, the Chief Medical Officer, said that hospital patients deemed at risk, such as pregnant women and cancer sufferers, will begin receiving a single-dose jab from Monday. The vaccine will also be offered to frontline health workers.

GPs will begin immunising at-risk groups in the community, including pregnant women and people with chronic conditions such as heart disease and diabetes, from October 26.

The announcement came as the Scottish government said that a 17-year-old mother-to-be from the Borders had become the latest person to die after contracting the H1N1 virus. She is the second pregnant patient whose death was linked to swine flu in the past week. Sir Liam said that while overall rates of infection were rising slowly, and at a rate similar to that in recent weeks, he was more concerned at the proportion of people entering critical care. Of the 364 patients currently in hospital, 74 are in critical care — the highest weekly total for the pandemic so far and up from 47 the week before.The death toll also rose at a sharper rate. There have been 83 deaths in England, 15 in Scotland, 4 in Wales and 4 in Northern Ireland. Six patients have died while pregnant or after giving birth.

The number of new cases of swine flu rose to 27,000 in the past week, up from 18,000 during the previous week. The Health Protection Agency estimates that about 370,000 people have contracted the virus so far in Britain.

Professor David Salisbury, the Department of Health director of immunisation, said that Pandemrix, a vaccine made by GlaxoSmithKline, would be used for the first vaccinations. He dismissed suggestions that as an adjuvant vaccine it carried more risks for the pregnant, and said that since it could offer immunity with a single dose — rather than the longer period required with the other supply, the two-dose Celvapan — Pandemrix was clearly preferable.

Sir Liam added that the decision by postal workers’ leaders to stage a national strike was an “extremely unwelcome piece of timing” that, though it would not affect vaccine delivery, would disrupt GPs’ letters sent out to those being offered vaccination. E-mail and text alerts are also used by some practices.

Sir Liam added: “I am concerned at the relatively high proportion of patients in hospital in a serious category. For most of the time it’s been about 12 to 13 per cent. Now it’s up to 20 per cent.” While the virus had not changed, he said, there were theories that it might have a greater impact during the flu season. In a study of 266 patients in hospital with confirmed swine flu, more than a quarter suffered from asthma, more than one in ten had heart disease and about 10 per cent were diabetic. Some 6 per cent of the patients were pregnant.

On vaccinations for mothers-to-be, Sir Liam added: “While the disease is mild for the majority of people including pregnant women, pregnant women are at higher risk of complications caused by flu. I know they wish to reduce risks to themselves and their unborn babies and therefore the sensible thing would be to have the vaccine. I do not want to see pregnant women dying from a preventable disease.”

The World Health Organisation updated its guidance for expectant mothers yesterday to support the use of Pandemrix. It said: “The World Health Organisation supports the use of vaccines as recommended by functional regulatory authorities. The GSK [GlaxoSmithKline] vaccine has been licensed for use in pregnant women in Europe, as of September 2009.”

Distribution of Baxter International’s Celvapan will also start about October 26. The vaccine is suitable for people with egg allergies but requires two doses, three weeks apart.

In Scotland, a woman who was flown to Sweden for treatment while pregnant after an extreme reaction to the virus has given birth at a hospital in Ayrshire. Sharon Pentleton, 27, and her baby boy are both well.


http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/Swine_flu/article6877124.ece

 

[Shiloh]

Re: Scotland : 17-year-old pregnant girl dies of swine flu

Source: http://news.scotsman.com/health/Pregnant-Borders--teenager-who.5742427.jp

Pregnant Borders teenager who died from swine flu is named

Published Date: 17 October 2009
By Claire Smith and Lyndsay Moss
THE young woman who died of swine flu when she was eight months pregnant has been named as Denise Murray.
The 17-year-old died at the Borders General Hospital on Wednesday. Staff were unable to save Denise or her unborn child.

Yesterday, the teenager's family, who live at Tweedbank near Melrose, and her boyfriend's family, from the Burnfoot area of Hawick, were too shocked and upset to speak.

Neighbours described Ms Murray as a popular and friendly young woman who had moved from Tweedbank about a year ago to live with her boyfriend, Robert Muir, in Burnfoot.

Jennifer Wood, 49, of Tweedbank, whose daughter goes to Earlston High School, where Ms Murray was previously a pupil, said: "It is very sad.

"There have been a lot of people coming and going at the house, presumably to pass on their condolences.

"But it's far too soon to come to terms with for her family."

Denise was the only girl in a family with five brothers. Her mother, Sandra, was at home yesterday, being comforted by friends and family.

One friend, at the Halo hair salon in Tweedbank, and described Denise as a "gorgeous bubbly girl".

She said: "It is just so raw that nobody knows what to say. Denise used to come here with me and we would get our hair done ? she was a gorgeous, lovely girl.

"Everyone knows her family because of all the boys and you would struggle to find anything bad to say about them. What can you say when they are expecting an addition to the family and instead they lose their girl?

"It is tragic and I would not want to say much more out of respect for Sandra."

Lynn Hanson, of newsagents Burnfoot News in Hawick, said Ms Murray was a regular customer.

"It is a terrible tragedy. It is the family you feel sorry for. Burnfoot is quite a close-knit community. I think people will be shocked when they find out."

Yesterday, Yvonne McCracken, head of schools at Scottish Borders Council, said: "We would like to send our heartfelt sympathies and condolences to all of Denise's friends and family at this very sad and difficult time."

Health secretary Nicola Sturgeon said Ms Murray's death was "deeply saddening".

Next Wednesday sees the start of the swine flu vaccination campaign in Scotland and across the UK. Patients in hospital will be the first to receive the jabs, with GP practices starting to invite people in for vaccination the following week.

Pregnant women are among the 1.3 million people in the at-risk groups being invited for vaccination in the first wave of the campaign.

Leading microbiologist Professor Hugh Pennington said it was important that pregnant women took up the offer of vaccination.

Experts have warned that pregnant women are up to four times more likely to suffer serious complications if they catch swine flu compared to other people.

Prof Pennington said: "As soon as the vaccine is available, women should go for it. They shouldn't have any worries about it. We have been using flu vaccines since the 1940s and they have a very good track record."

The two jabs to be used in the vaccination campaign are Pandemrix, made by GlaxoSmith Kline, and Celvapan, from Baxter International.

Pandemrix will be given in one dose to the majority of people while Celvapan, which is suitable for those with egg allergies, will be given in two jabs.

So far, 15 deaths from swine flu have been confirmed in Scotland, with 106 across the UK. Last week, an estimated 12,500 people in Scotland contracted the virus.

There has also been a surge in people being admitted to hospital with complications linked to H1N1, with 64 needing treatment last week, the highest number of weekly admissions since the pandemic began in May.


The full article contains 648 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

* Last Updated: 16 October 2009 11:47 PM
* Source: The Scotsman
* Location: Edinburgh
*

 

[ming]

Re: Scotland : 17-year-old pregnant girl dies of swine flu

..And this is the same hospital that told my GD - who was showing ALL the symptoms of flu which she caught on holiday in Spain - to "stay at home for a week and take Panadol, you have a VIRUS". Presumably a mystery un-named virus eh? She asked is it the flu and they said just stay at home and rest, its a VIRUS.