Child and man from Kirklees die after catching swine flu

Jul 7 2009 by Katie Grant, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

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.”

Asmaa had epilepsy since she was born.

Her uncle said: “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.”

She has three brothers and one sister

Her seven-year-old sister also had the flu and was taking tablets for it.

Officials from NHS Kirklees confirmed the deaths.

A spokesman said the two people who had died both had ‘underlying health issues’ and it was not yet known whether swine flu had caused their deaths.

A spokesman for NHS Kirklees said: “It is with sadness that we can confirm that a child from the Kirklees area, who had swine flu, has died.

“The child also had serious underlying health issues. We have no confirmation whether or not swine flu was the cause of death.

“We can confirm that the man also had underlying health issues.

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

MP for Dewsbury, Shahid Malik, said: “My thoughts are with the families whose loved-ones have tragically passed away.

“This must be incredibly painful for the families who are currently grieving.

“I also want to say to people that swine flu in this country is relatively mild and people ought not to get alarmed.”