Six-year-old girl & GP die of swine flu

There are fears today that two more people have died from swine flu in Britain who had no other underlying illness. If post-mortem examinations reveal that they were otherwise healthy, it will take the number of such deaths to three following that of an unnamed Essex patient last week. This causes real concern that more will die before the public can be vaccinated. The first batch of vaccine is not due until next month.

The two new cases are Chloe Buckley, a six-year-old from West Drayton, Middlesex, and Dr Michael Day, a retired family doctor in Dunstable, Bedfordshire who still works as a locum.

Chloe was described as "perfectly healthy" before she was taken to her family doctor last Wednesday complaining of flu-like symptoms, including a sore throat. She died the following day after being transferred to St Mary's Hospital, Paddington.

Dr Day was 64 and worked at the Priory Gardens Health Centre in Dunstable. He was said by neighbours and friends to have had only "a bit of a cold" when he was taken into Luton and Dunstable Hospital on Saturday and died the same day.

"While these individual deaths are tragedies for the families concerned, it is very important that members of the public do not panic," said Dr Laurence Buckman, chairman of the BMA's GP committee. "We must remember that every year there are deaths from complications of seasonal flu; this is unfortunately inevitable with any strain of influenza."

Dr Buckman said the vast majority of people contracting swine flu would recover quickly by taking paracetamol or ibuprofen, and drinking plenty of fluids.

However, while Britain waits for the first delivery of vaccine in August, American research published in the journal Nature suggests that the swine flu virus penetrates deeper into the lungs than normal flu, which explains why it can kill otherwise healthy people.

The research by the University of Wisconsin shows that the latest strain of the H1N1 virus is closely related to strains responsible for the 1918 pandemic which killed up to 100m people in the aftermath of World War One.

In Britain, the worst affected areas are London and the West Midlands. It is likely that swine flu will be declared an epidemic in the course of this week. That could lead to the cancellation by the NHS of non-urgent operations and of regular tests by GPs on those with long-term health conditions. The swine flu information line is 0800 1 513 513.