UK Swine Flu Death Toll Rises To 14

[Gert van der Hoek]

UK, Monday July 06, 2009

UK Swine Flu Death Toll Rises To Seven

A man and a child from West Yorkshire have died after contracting swine flu, an NHS spokesman has said.

Both had underlying health issues,.

The deaths come just hours after it was confirmed a nine-year-old child died after contracting the virus.

The youngster, from south London, also had "serious underlying health problems", according to a spokesman for NHS London.

It brings the total number of deaths of people with swine flu in the UK to seven.

London, along with the West Midlands, is a swine flu hotspot.

The child is the second person in the capital to die after a 19-year-old man, also from south London and with serious underlying health problems, died last week.

A further three people with swine flu have died in the UK and all had underlying health problems.

Jacqui Fleming, 38, of Glasgow, was the first after contracting the virus last month, two weeks after her son, Jack, was born 11 weeks prematurely. Jack died later but had not contracted the virus.
The second victim was a 73-year-old man from the Inverclyde area of Scotland.

The youngest UK victim was six-year-old Sameerah Ahmad.

Sameerah, who was born with a rare life-threatening disease, died at Birmingham's Children's Hospital after contracting swine flu, although it is unclear if it contributed to her death.

A spokesman for NHS London said: "A second person in London who had tested positive with swine flu has died.

"The nine-year-old child from south London had serious underlying health problems.

"No further details will be released to protect patient confidentiality."

The child died "over the weekend", he said, adding that no other details would be released.

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

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: UK Swine Flu Death Toll Rises To Seven

Re: UK Swine Flu Death Toll Rises To Seven

Britain has three swine flu deaths in a day


LONDON (AFP) – Two children and a man died in Britain on Monday after contracting swine flu although all had pre-existing health conditions, officials said.

The deaths of a man and a child from West Yorkshire in northern England and a nine-year-old child from London took the death toll from the virus in Britain to seven.

All had "underlying health issues", health officials said, without giving details of their conditions.

England's chief medical officer has said people with breathing problems and obese people are at high risk.

Health officials said they could not confirm whether swine flu or the pre-existing condition was the cause of death in either case in West Yorkshire.
Speaking about the child, a spokesman said: "At this stage, we have no confirmation whether or not swine flu was the cause of death."

In London, the National Health Service (NHS) said the nine-year-old child, whose gender was not identified, also had "serious underlying health problems".

The government warned last week that Britain could soon face more than 100,000 daily cases of swine flu if the current rate of infection is maintained.
Health officials have abandoned efforts to contain the virus, given the high number of cases, and have switched to focusing on treating infected people who fall into a high-risk group.

People who present the symptoms of swine flu are now given antiviral drugs without laboratory testing to confirm the presence of the virus.

Britain already has Europe's highest number of reported cases with nearly 7,500.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090706/hl_afp/healthflubritain_20090706173935

 

[Shiloh]

Re: UK Swine Flu Death Toll Rises To Seven

Re: UK Swine Flu Death Toll Rises To Seven

Source: http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/Two-swine-flu-victims-die.5432581.jp

Two swine flu victims die in Dewsbury

Published Date:
06 July 2009
By Tony Gardner

A NINE-year-old girl from Dewsbury has died after contracting swine flu.
Epilepsy sufferer Asmaa Hussain, from Dewsbury, died last Thursday after showing symptoms of the illness three days earlier.

Family members told last night how the youngster had been given prescribed Tamiflu but never got a chance to take the tablets.

It is the second tragedy to hit the family, who live in the Scout Hill area, after Asmaa's father, Merban Hussain, 33, died two months ago from a heart attack.

The youngster had suffered a fit on Thursday at around 10.30pm and died fifteen minutes later.

It is not known whether swine flu was the cause of death.

Asmaa, a pupil at Thornhill Junior and Infants School, was taken to her GP on the day she died.

The doctor diagnosed flu symptoms and put her on a course of the drug Tamiflu which were couriered to her on the same day.

She had not been to school since showing the symptoms.

The youngster didn't get the chance to take the tablets as they were posted to her family later that day just before she died.

Her uncle Ghulam Rasoo, 48, said the family were not aware she had swine flu until a doctor took a sample and confirmed the illness.

He said: "We won't know what happened fully until the post-mortem but she had suffered a fit and blood was coming from her nose and mouth.

"She had been poorly for a long time and had been in and out of hospital before getting the flu for a couple of days.

"She had a fit on Thursday night and we tried to give her mouth to mouth until the ambulance came but she died.

"She got the anti-flu drugs on the day she died but hadn't started taking them. It was only after her death the doctor told us it was swine flu.

"She has had epilepsy since birth but has been quite well for the past two years, she has been to the doctor for flu or cough but not for epilepsy.

"A normal little girl, she had been playing all day with her brother and sister. If she had swine flu it didn't seem particularly serious, no cough, no sweating, no nothing."

Asmaa has three brothers and one sister - one brother is older and two are younger - her seven-year-old sister also had the flu and was taking tablets for it.

No one from Thornhill Junior and Infants School could be contacted for comment on Monday night.

One mum, who has a son at the school, told the YEP: "We were sent a letter last week saying that a child from the school was critical but told there was no risk to other pupils.

"We were told that the school would remain open but it was our decision whether we sent our kids to school not for the time being."

Abdullah Patel, a 42-year-old man from the Savile Town area of Dewsbury, has also died after catching swine flu, it was confirmed on Monday.

It is believed he was a teacher at the Institute of Islamic Education, a private boarding school in Savile Town, Dewsbury, although NHS Kirklees officials would not comment on this.

He was from a South Asian background and thought to have been suffering from lung and kidney problems.

Last week the YEP revaled the Institute of Islamic Education was closed after three of its students were confirmed to have swine flu.

Several other pupils were also exhibiting symptoms and were being closely monitored by public health chiefs.

The college is a day and boarding school for Muslim boys and young men. Those affected were treated with anti-viral medication.

All other students at the college - around 290 of them - are being kept in isolation where possible and have been offered anti-viral drugs.

The coroner has been informed of both deaths.

But is understood that there will not be an inquest into Mr Patel's death as the coroner has decided that he died from natural causes, although the exact cause of his death has not been publicly released.

A post mortem examination on the girl is expected to be conducted later this week.

A spokesman for the Department of Health said that if the deaths are confirmed as swine flu they will be the sixth and seventh confirmed deaths in the UK.

A spokesperson for NHS Kirklees said: "We can confirm that a child from the Kirklees area, who had swine flu, has died. The child also had serious underlying health issues.

"At this stage, we have no confirmation whether or not swine flu was the cause of death."

Health bosses have urged anyone who fears they have the symptoms of flu to stay at home.

They should also use the online symptom checker at www.nhs.uk or ring the national swine flu information line on 0800 1 .... If they are still concerned they should ring NHS Direct on 0845 ... or their local GP.

 

[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: UK Swine Flu Death Toll Rises To 14

UK now third worst in world swine flu toll

By Jane Kirby, Press Association

Thursday, 9 July 2009

Fourteen people are now thought to have died in the UK after contracting swine flu, the Government announced today.

Chief Medical Officer Sir Liam Donaldson said the latest figures did not mean they all died as a direct result of swine flu but that many had the virus.

There are currently 335 people in hospital in England with swine flu of which 43 are in critical care, he added.

The UK now has the third highest number of cases of swine flu in the world after the US and Mexico.

However, Sir Liam admitted it was unknown how many people in the UK were truly suffering from the virus as many people would be treating themselves at home rather than contacting their GP.

It is unclear where or when the latest deaths linked to swine flu occurred.

Justin McCracken, chief executive of the Health Protection Agency (HPC), said the organisation would not be releasing information about individual deaths, adding that it was a local decision in each case whether to release details of where and who the victims were.

Sir Liam said latest data from 100 GP surgeries around England showed that about 27,000 people per week were being diagnosed by their GP as having a flu-like illness.

Of these, an estimated 8,000 will have swine flu.

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-s...rd-worst-in-world-swine-flu-toll-1739407.html

 

[Shiloh]

Re: UK Swine Flu Death Toll Rises To 14

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE5685ER20090709?sp=true

Parts of Britain "near an H1N1 epidemic"; 14 dead
Thu Jul 9, 2009 12:30pm EDT

LONDON (Reuters) - Fourteen Britons who had contracted H1N1 flu have died and the rapid spread of infection in two areas of the country is close to epidemic level, health officials said on Thursday.

The Department of Health said Britain now had 9,718 laboratory-confirmed cases, the third most in the world behind the United States and Mexico.

Britain's Chief Medical Officer Liam Donaldson said the actual number of cases was likely to be higher.

All 14 who have died had underlying health issues and it was not clear in how many cases the patients had died as a direct result of the virus, known as swine flu.

"In London and the West Midlands we are getting pretty close to epidemic levels. We've seen big surges there," Donaldson told

BBC TV.

"For the country as a whole, the average is about the level of the flu season but in some parts of the country the levels are getting pretty big."

The World Health Organization declared on June 11 that the outbreak of the virus was a pandemic and more than 94,500 cases have been reported worldwide.

Health Minister Andy Burnham said last week the government was projecting more than 100,000 new cases a day of the flu by the end of August.

While most people who have caught the infection have suffered mild symptoms, in a small minority it has proven more severe.

The Department of Health said that 335 people in Britain were currently in hospital after contracting the infection, with 43 of those described as critical.

Donaldson said there were no signs the virus was becoming more virulent, although he warned it could mutate.

"It does tend to affect people with underlying illnesses quite severely and a small number of healthy adults can get the severe complications of flu but the majority of them get a mild illness," he said. (Reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Louise Ireland and Steve Addison)