7:17pm Friday 10th July 2009
© Press Association 2011
A hospital patient from Essex has become the first person without underlying health problems to die after contracting swine flu, a health trust said.
The patient died on Friday at Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, NHS East of England said.
The patient's family has asked no details of their relative be released.
The trust said in a statement it "would like to extend their deepest sympathies to the family affected as they come to terms with their loss".
Chief Medical Officer Sir Liam Donaldson said: "This death underlines that, although the virus is proving generally mild in most people, it is more severe in some cases.
"As with all flu-like viruses, some people are at higher risk than others. Unfortunately, people who are otherwise healthy could also become seriously ill or, sadly, die."
The Essex patient was the first in the UK with no underlying health problems to die after contracting swine flu but not the first in the world, the Department of Health said.
John Oxford, Professor of Virology at Queen Mary's College of Medicine in London, said the death was to be expected and did not give any extra cause for concern.
He said: "We've all been gritting our teeth, waiting for this to happen, and now it has. This doesn't necessarily mean the virus has mutated. Whether more patients with no underlying health problems die of the disease really depends on what the virus does next."
The Essex patient may have died from the virus moving deep into their respiratory tract and into the lung, followed by an infection of the lungs by a bacterium, he said. This would result in breathing difficulties and pressure on the heart.
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