Swine flu has claimed another child’s life, one of four people to have died at two Sussex hospitals during the latest Swine flu outbreak.

The youngster, whose name and age have not been revealed, died at the Conquest Hospital in St Leonards between September last year and February this year.

It is the first time East Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust has confirmed deaths took place as a direct result of swine flu, known in medical terms as H1N1.

Health officials are refusing to give any details of victims, saying to do so would breach the patients’ confidentiality.

The child’s death emerged though a Freedom of Information request to the trust.

A spokesman for the trust said: “There have been a total of four fatalities that were confirmed as H1N1 but information on actual cause of death from death certificates has not been investigated.”

The other three swine flu victims included a pensioner and two adults.

The pensioner and one of the adults died at the Conquest.

Another adult died at Eastbourne District General Hospital (DGH).

This person was the only one out of the four to die who was perfectly healthy before contracting swine flu.

All the other people, including the child, had some background of illness.

All died between September and February.

During this period 29 people were treated at the DGH for swine flu and 17 at the Conquest.

Swine flu led to the deaths of at least four patients in Sussex in 2009, including a four-year-old girl from Brighton and Brittany Eastland, nine, from Crawley.

Neither child had any underlying health problems.

South East Coast Strategic Health Authority has followed national guidance which means detailed information about swine flu deaths is not routinely revealed because of patient confidentiality.

An East Sussex Downs and Weald Primary Care Trust spokeswoman said the trust was taking measures to reduce the spread of the illness.