First Australian With Swine Flu Dies In Adelaide

The first death of a person with swine flu in Australia has been confirmed at the Royal Adelaide Hospital.

A 26-year-old West Australian man, believed to be Aborigine, has been at the hospital since Monday in a critical condition. 

The man was confirmed as positive for swine flu yesterday. 

He was transferred to Adelaide from Alice Springs Hospital on Monday. 

It is believed the man had other medical conditions.

South Australia’s chief medical officer Paddy Phillips tonight said the man, who was transferred from Alice Springs to the Royal Adelaide Hospital on Monday in a critical condition, had tested positive for swine flu yesteray and died this afternoon in the hospital’s intensive care unit.

The man’s death is only the second of someone with the novel virus outside of the Americas.

“This man died with swine flu,” Professor Phillips said.

“I understand it’s only the second outside that region, but certainly this is the first person who has died with swine flu in Australia.”

A spokeswoman for federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon tonight said the current “protect” pandemic phase which the country was moved to on Wednesday would not be changed.

UK Swine Flu Toll Nears 2,000

A further 224 cases of swine flu were confirmed in England today by the Health Protection Agency.

The rise brings the UK total to 1,984.

The figures come after eight students were revealed to have the disease at Bristol University.

Another seven cases in Scotland and one in Northern Ireland are included in the UK total.

A Department of Health spokeswoman said: “The localised cases of swine flu found in the UK have so far been generally mild in most people, but are proving to be severe in a small minority of cases.”

The new cases revealed today include six in the east of England, 49 in London, three in the North East, 16 in the South East, 144 in the West Midlands and six in Yorkshire and Humber.

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) said there are a further 41 “clinically presumed” cases in England and 1,195 in Scotland, which have not yet been confirmed through laboratory tests.