Death of Brighton four-year-old may be linked to swine-flu (From The Argus)

Death of Brighton four-year-old may be linked to swine-flu

10:30am Wednesday 4th November 2009 in News By Siobhan Ryan, Health Reporter

The death of a four-year-old girl may be linked to swine flu.

The youngster from Brighton died at The Royal Sussex County Hospital over the weekend after being brought in by ambulance.

The exact cause of the girl's death is still being investigated and a range of tests are being carried out.

One of these is a check for swine flu with the results expected by the end of the week.

The latest incident comes less than a month after the death of Brittany Eastland, nine, from Three Bridges, Crawley.

The youngster,a Year 5 pupil at Three Bridges Junior School, died at East Surrey Hospital in Redhill.

Health bosses are still waiting for the results of tests but believe swine flu may have been partly responsible.

They are urging parents not to panic and to contine to send their children to nursery and school as normal.

West Sussex Prinary Care Trust is responsible for co-ordinating the county's response to swine flu.

Director of public health Judith Wright said: “We are aware of the tragic death of a child in Brighton.

“However, until results of the post mortem and associated tests are available we will not fully understand the cause of this child’s death, and we are unable to comment any further at this time.

“We would urge people to respect the family’s privacy during this difficult time.”

Anyone concerned that they or a relative has the virus should call the National Pandemic Flu Service on 0800 1513513.