http://www.timesonline.co.uk/

Britain suffers its first swine flu death

The first death in Britain from swine flu was confirmed last night after a woman died in Scotland. The victim was a woman aged 38 and was in the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley, who had been admitted to intensive care suffering from the H1N1 virus. The death is the first in the world not in the Americas. A statement issued last night by the Scottish government said: “With regret, we can confirm that one of the patients who had been in hospital, and had been confirmed as suffering from the H1N1 virus, has died today.” The statement added that the patient had had “underlying health conditions”, which means that the swine flu virus might not have been the only contributing factor. The patient was one of ten people who had been in hospital with the virus in Scotland. Last night Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish Health Secretary, said: “I’d like to express my condolences to the patient’s family and friends. They have my heartfelt sympathy. “I would like to emphasise that the vast majority of those who have H1N1 are suffering from relatively mild symptoms.
“The risk to the general public remains low and we can all play our part in slowing the spread of the virus by following simple procedures like washing your hands and using tissues when coughing or sneezing.” Professor Hugh Pennington, a bacteriologist at Aberdeen University, said that the death did not necessarily mark a worsening of the outbreak in Britain. “It does not point to the virus getting nastier. All the evidence to date suggests the virus is not changing at all,” he said. “This is a flu virus, it is in no way different from an ordinary winter flu virus, so if there are enough cases some people will have to be admitted to hospital and some will die.”

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I already thought it was scary but now it is coming closer to home. The first person that died in Europe, because of the swine flu. I do know that not all people that are infected with this flu will die but then again, it can happen to anyone of us. I would really want to know if it was the swine flu that caused the death or the underlying health problems. I really hope that we will overcome this swine flu very soon. Because it is scary to hear how quickly it can spread over the world. I do think that the government could do more to prevent this.