A woman is in a critical but stable condition in intensive care after contracting a form of swine flu.
• Pregnant woman collapsed at mother’s funeral.
• Patient was airlifted to specialist hospital in Leicester.
Jennifer Scott was transferred by helicopter from Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary earlier this week after she was diagnosed with a serious “flu type illness”.
She is currently being treated at the Glenfield Hospital in Leicester where there is specialist equipment to deal with serious conditions such as this.
It was reported that Ms Scott, understood to be 27-years-old and from Sanquhar in Dumfriesshire, was pregnant and collapsed during her mother’s funeral.
Transferred
At hospital, doctors performed an emergency caesarean section before Ms Scott was airlifted to Leicester.
A spokesman for NHS Dumfries and Galloway said: “We have had a confirmed case of a significant flu type illness.
“That case has been transferred and there are no other confirmed cases.”
A spokeswoman for University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust said: “We can confirm that the patient has been transferred to Glenfield Hospital and is currently on a ECMO machine in ITU.
“The patient was flown to Glenfield Hospital as it is one of a limited number of hospitals in the UK that has this specialist piece of equipment. The patient is currently in a critical but stable condition.”
SWINE flu mum Jennifer Scott collapsed at her own mother’s funeral after being struck down with the deadly disease.
The pregnant 27-year-old had been desperate to say a final farewell to beloved mum Patricia, despite feeling ill.
But she collapsed during the service and had to be rushed to hospital where her baby girl was delivered by an emergency Caesarean section.
Jennifer was then flown to a specialist hospital in England where she was last night fighting for her life.
Last night her shattered pal Lucy Roberts, who fears her 18-month-old son also has the disease, said: “I’m worried out of my mind for her.
“I was told Jenny began coughing and just couldn’t catch her breath.
“An ambulance had to come and take her to hospital.
“Her baby was born by Caesarean and then she was put in a coma.
“It’s a terrible thing to happen and she is one of the nicest, most generous people you could meet.”
Mum-of-three Lucy, 29, told how grieving Jennifer had been feeling unwell in the days leading up to her mum’s funeral. But the brave carer, of Sanquhar, Dumfriesshire was determined to still attend the service for 60-year-old Patricia.
Her baby daughter arrived safely at Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary in the early hours of February 14, but when Lucy went to visit her pal she was unconscious.
Days later the stricken mum was taken by helicopter to Leicester’s Glenfield Hospital, where doctors have specialist equipment to treat seriously ill swine flu victims.
So close ... Jennifer with mum Patricia
Jennifer was hooked up to a vital ECMO machine which pumps oxygen around the body of critically ill patients.
Lucy said: “Doctors had to come up by helicopter to take her to Leicester.
“With the death of Patricia and now this the family are going through hell.”
Worried Lucy claimed she was told by docs that her son Tyler was also showing potential symptoms of the bug.
Jennifer had been staying with Lucy and Tyler at their home in Dalbeattie, Kirkcudbrightshire, in the days before the funeral.
Lucy said: “At that point she was just feeling some aches and pains and had a cough, but she was putting it down to her pregnancy.
“She was helping out with Tyler, who is her godson, so had quite close contact with him.” Despite Lucy’s fears, health chiefs insist Jennifer is the only confirmed case of the swine flu bug in the area.
The mum added: “The doctors were talking about me being an over-anxious mum. They made me feel so small that when he was ill I didn’t want to call 999 in case I was being a pest.
“I’m furious at the way I was treated. I was sure that they had the same illness and told them that he’d been in contact with Jenny, but the doctors wouldn’t listen. You would think that they would take another outbreak of it more seriously. I just don’t want anyone else catching it.”
Last night Scottish Sun doctor Carol Cooper warned that people who were pregnant or sick were most at risk from swine flu. And she revealed viruses like the H1N1 strain would always be prevalent in society.
She said: “No one knows why it is back. Cold weather is a factor as low temperatures make it easier for viruses to take hold.
“They are unpredictable, but we can say that it is far more serious in pregnant women. People with lung disease, heart disease and diabetes are also likely to get more ill from it. Young people and children seem to catch it more because they’re less likely to have antibodies already.”
Last night the Scottish Government insisted the strain is NOT the same as the one involved in the 2009 pandemic which killed 20,000 people worldwide.
Dumfries and Galloway Health Board said they had only one confirmed case of the bug in the area.
Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/feeds/smartphone/scotland/4810282/Swine-flu-is-back.html#ixzz2LqhoXoUX
