UK Swine Flu Death Toll Hits 31

The number of people who have died in the UK after contracting swine flu has reached at least 31.

The latest patient died in the West Midlands and has yet to be identified. The individual had tested positive for swine flu but a cause of death has not yet been established.

Earlier, a 15-year-old girl – who had underlying medical conditions – died in the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow. She is the fourth person with swine flu to have died in Scotland.

Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon passed on condolences to her family, adding: “For the vast majority of people who have H1N1, they will experience relatively mild symptoms and make a full recovery.”

The deaths come as world health chiefs warned the virus was spreading faster than any previous flu pandemic.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) announced that more than 700 people worldwide are now thought to have died after contracting the virus. It is a huge jump from the 429 deaths reported on July 6.

In a briefing note published late last week, WHO said that “further spread of the pandemic, within affected countries and to new countries, is considered inevitable”.

It said the current pandemic “has spread internationally with unprecedented speed”.

In the UK, an estimated 55,000 people are being newly diagnosed with the virus each week.

The post-mortem examination results on a six-year-old girl from west London, released on Tuesday, showed she died of septic shock following a bout of tonsilitis.

Chloe Buckley died on July 9 at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington after suffering from the throat infection, which was caused by streptococcus A bacterium.

It is not clear to what extent swine flu contributed to her death but she is known to have had the virus.

Liam Donaldson, the Chief Medical Officer for England, said it was unlikely there would be school closures in the autumn to curb swine flu.

The issue was being kept under review but past experience – such as in the West Midlands – had not shown this to be effective at controlling the virus.