UK : Lancashire man "just became ill with swine flu and died"

[Gert van der Hoek]

"Young and healthy"

Lancashire man dies from swine flu

Published Date:
20 August 2009

By Aasma Day, Health Reporter

A Penwortham man has become the first person in Lancashire to die of swine flu, it has been revealed.

The man was struck down with the disease more than two weeks ago and has since died.

It is believed the deceased did not have any underlying health conditions and died as a result of his swine flu illness.

A post mortem examination has been carried out which confirmed the man died of swine flu.

He is among 44 people in the UK to have so far died after contracting the deadly disease.

A source, who did not wish to be named, told the Evening Post: "He did not have any other complications. It seems he just became ill with swine flu and died as a result of it."

It is believed the details and post mortem examination results have been passed on to the Lancashire Coroner's Office.

A spokesman for NHS Central Lancashire said: "We are aware the cause of death of a patient who died in the central Lancashire area is being investigated.

"We will not be able to comment further until we have received the Coroner's report."

Earlier this week the Lancashire Evening Post revealed almost 10,000 packs of anti-virals have been issued to suspected swine flu sufferers across Central Lancashire since anti-viral centres opened on July 7.

This equates to around 250 packs of Tamiflu or Relenza issued every day.

The number of deaths in England linked to the swine flu virus jumped by eight to 44 in the past week, according to the Health Protection Agency.

Experts believe the number of new cases will continue to fall while schools and universities are on their summer holidays.

Britain has seen one of the highest number of cases, although most people have experienced only mild to moderate symptoms.

The new H1N1 flu affects more younger people than seasonal flu, making it a bigger potential threat to the working population.

http://www.lep.co.uk/news/Lancashire-has-its-first-swine.5570369.jp

 

[AlaskaDenise]

Re: UK : Lancashire man "just became ill with swine flu and died"

Grieving brothers attack bosses over swine flu death

The grieving family of a Lancashire man killed by swine flu has attacked the authorities for their handling of the crisis.

Godfrey Armstrong, 55, who lived in Penwortham near Preston, with his brother Julien, became ill with a flu-like illness a few weeks ago.

As he had no underlying health conditions, he did not go to his doctor or to hospital, but tried to recover from the illness at home. But the disease took hold and he died on August 2.

His brothers Rodney and Julien today said a pathologist's report confirmed Rodney died of swine flu.

He is believed to be the first person in Lancashire to have died of the disease ? one of 59 to die nationally during the pandemic.

Julien, 45, who believes he also suffered a milder form of swine flu but recovered, found his brother dead.

He said: "Godfrey was late getting up that morning and when I called him, I was not getting a response.

"I went into the bedroom and found him lying there dead on the floor.
"The health advice is that if you are relatively fit and healthy and get swine flu, you should get better in a few days.

"But even though Godfrey was in good health, he died of it.

"You just don't expect something like that to suddenly happen to someone in your family."

After his brother's death, Julien became concerned about his own illness being swine flu and called his GP surgery for advice.

He said: "I was told to ring the National Flu Line and when I did, I just seemed to get an advice line telling me to make sure I disposed of tissues after blowing my nose and to make sure I washed my hands regularly.

"The health people are trying to sweep the whole issue under the carpet.

"I think they are trying to play it down so they don't frighten people, but they are being deceitful about it. Health bosses are discouraging people from going to doctors or hospital if they think they have swine flu and say it is mild unless you have an existing health condition.

"Godfrey did not have any underlying health conditions and he died. Swine flu is a nasty, aggressive, illness and Godfrey's death was rapid.

"The health professionals let Godfrey down as they are supposed to save people."

Conservative shadow health secretary Mike Penning told the Lancashire Evening Post: "It's vitally important for Mr Armstrong's family and the country as a whole that we can have confidence in the processes put in place to deal with swine flu."

South Ribble MP David Borrow said: "The family have not contacted me but if they were to I would demand answers from the PCT and would ensure as much information as possible was in the public domain. I need the permission of the family before I can start asking questions about a particular individual."

Dr Terry O'Connor, NHS Central Lancashire clinical executive chairman, said: "There is nothing new that we can add about whether or not this was a death due to swine flu until we have heard from the coroner, which we anticipate will be in the next few days.

"Whether or not the death was due to swine flu, we would like to offer our sympathy."

The funeral was at Kingsfold Methodist Church in Penwortham on August 12, followed by burial at Hill Road Cemetery.

http://www.lep.co.uk/news/Grieving-brothers-attack-health-bosses.5576652.jp