The Scottish Government said that the strain that struck down Jenny Scott is not the same as the one involved in the 2009 pandemic.

Microbiologist Professor Hugh Pennington said: “Expectant women should get themselves immunised as flu during pregnancy can be nasty.

“In the late stages women can struggle to breathe as well as they did and their immune system is lowered.

“We are also isolating viruses to see if they have changed.

“What the labs can’t tell us is how bad they will be. We have to wait and see how they ­affect people.”