THE YOUNG woman from the west of Ireland who died from human swine flu at Tallaght hospital in Dublin yesterday is understood to have contracted the virus in the community.
The woman had “an underlying condition”, according to Dr John Devlin, deputy chief medical officer at the Department of Health and Children. She is the first person in Ireland to die from the H1N1 virus.
“The information that we can provide is that she was a young adult female from the west of the country and she had an underlying condition, and the death occurred in Tallaght Hospital today [Friday],” he said.
He was speaking at a press conference in Government Buildings in Dublin yesterday evening.
When asked if the case of swine flu was contracted in the community or in the hospital, Dr Devlin said his understanding was that it was acquired in the community.
He said the privacy of the woman’s family should be respected and no further details about the case would be provided by the Department or the HSE.
Dr Devlin said he expected the number of cases to continue to increase and further hospitalisation to take place.
Earlier this week, Dr Devlin said the number of cases of the virus here had “stabilised” following an almost three-fold increase from 12.5 to 37 cases per 100,000 the previous week.
It is understood the woman had cystic fibrosis, although this was not confirmed at the press conference yesterday. She was admitted to the hospital on Monday and was not being treated in the intensive care department. She is understood to have died at around 3pm yesterday afternoon.
The press conference was also attended by Dr Pat Doorley, national director of population health with the HSE, and Prof Bill Hall, chairman of the national pandemic influenza expert group.
Sympathy was extended to the family and friends of the deceased woman.
Dr Doorley said international experience was that people with underlying illnesses could be at higher risk of developing more severe symptoms, “as was the case for this patient”.
He said: “It is a sad day and an unfortunate development in the pandemic flu in Ireland.”
However, Dr Doorley said most people who contracted swine flu would recover well at home by looking after themselves and would not even need to call a doctor.
“While it is a tragedy, the public should be assured that in the vast majority of cases the flu virus causes a mild to moderate illness.”
Tallaght hospital released a statement yesterday evening that said the woman had been in an individual room from the time she was admitted.
The statement said the hospital’s influenza pandemic flu committee had put in place all necessary measures to ensure the safety of both other patients and staff within the hospital.
“All national protocols have been followed in regards to this matter.”
The statement said the hospital was continuing to work in conjunction with the Department of Health and the HSE in relation to the issue.
“In order to protect the confidentiality and privacy of the family we will not be providing any personal details,” the statement said.
“We can say that the patient in question was a young female adult who had an underlying health condition. The hospital extends its deepest heartfelt sympathy to the family and friends of the patient who died in the hospital this afternoon. At a time like this our thoughts must be with the family.”
In the seven days up to last Sunday, the incidence of the H1N1 virus was 32.5 cases per 100,000 of population, the equivalent of some 1,400 cases nationally.
