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A mother died from meningitis after medics said she had swine flu

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  • A mother died from meningitis after medics said she had swine flu

    Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/sw...swine-flu.html


    A mother died from meningitis after medics said she had swine flu
    Jasvir Kaur Gill, from Leicester, was diagnosed with swine flu over the phone and was given paracetamol by a paramedic but just five hours later she was fighting for her life, an inquest was told.


    By Rebecca Smith, Medical Editor
    Published: 2:44PM BST 12 Aug 2009

    The 48-year-old mother-of-three is the second person known to have died after meningitis was mistaken for the H1N1 swine flu virus.

    Two-year-old Georgia Keeling, from Norwich, died on July 28th from suspected meningitis having initially been diagnosed as having swine flu by a paramedic.


    Callum Meaker, 13, from Yate in Gloucestershire, was also diagnosed with swine flu over the phone by a GP out-of-hours service but was found to have a kidney infection. He spent six days in hospital and his mother said the country's obsession with swine flu had nearly cost him his life.

    Nine out of ten GPs, in a poll, said they were concerned people with serious conditions could be wrongly diagnosed through the National Pandemic Flu Service as having swine flu. The phone line and website take people through a series of questions designed to establish if they have flu and direct those with more serious symptoms to medical help.

    Mrs Gill collapsed 12 hours after being diagnosed with swine flu and when an ambulance was called the paramedic prescribed paracetamol and left.

    Just five hours later she suffered a cardiac arrest and her family had to perform CPR while a second ambulance arrived, an inquest heard.

    Mrs Gill's 25-year-old son Sukhvinder, called for doctors to consider other illnesses than swine flu when making diagnoses.

    Mr Gill told Leicester City Coroner's Court that his mother started complaining of a sore throat during the evening of Saturday, August 1.

    She then vomited repeatedly through the night, prompting her husband to call for help at 5am on Sunday.

    Mr Gill said that, after telephone conversations with both his father and mother, they were advised to pick up some Tamiflu for her.

    He told the inquest: "My Dad went to the Royal (Leicester Royal Infirmary), and gave her the first dose.

    "He gave her the morning tablet but she continued to get worse and worse through the morning."

    At around noon that day, Mrs Gill's family dialled 999 as she was having trouble breathing, but the inquest heard that a paramedic who attended prescribed paracetamol and then left.

    "She checked my mum's throat, used a stethoscope on her chest, and said everything was clear," Mr Gill said.

    "She stayed there about five minutes, if that, and said just take paracetamol and water and she will be fine."

    Mr Gill said at about 5pm his mother started coughing uncontrollably and then collapsed, suffering a cardiac arrest.

    The family again called 999 and were instructed to carry out CPR while an ambulance was sent to their home.

    "The doctor informed us that her heart had stopped about three to four times on the way to the hospital," Mr Gill said.

    "She was moved to the adult critical care unit, where she stayed until the Thursday on a ventilator, when she died. She didn't really improve or regain consciousness.

    "On the Tuesday, they said they had theories of what they thought it could be. They said they thought it could be swine flu, or Legionnaires' disease, or meningitis.

    "The next day they confirmed that it was meningitis."

    Coroner Catherine Mason confirmed today that the cause of Mrs Gill's death was meningococcal septicaemia.

    She said: "Quite clearly, further inquiries need to be carried out in relation to this death."

    She adjourned the inquest to a date to be fixed.

    A spokesman for the Meningitis Trust said: "Unfortunately this situation is one that we hoped to avoid and our condolences are with the lady?s family at this very sad time.

    "Recognising the symptoms of meningitis can be difficult as many of its symptoms are similar to swine flu. The rash that is commonly associated with meningitis doesn?t appear in all cases, so it is vital that people are aware of the other symptoms.

    "Rapid deterioration will take hold if left untreated - symptoms can appear together and some may not appear at all. They include fever (possibly with cold hands and feet), headache, stiff neck, dislike of bright lights, drowsiness, joint pain, vomiting, diarrhoea and confusion. In babies, an unusual cry, dislike of being handled and refusing feeds are also signs that can point to meningitis. If in doubt, always seek urgent medical advice."

  • #2
    Re: A mother died from meningitis after medics said she had swine flu

    For the UK health service and policy makers, there is a paramount question that must be asked here.

    Regardless of whether a case such as this is swine flu or anonther serious illness, why are these individudals not being taken to hospital for assessment when they are so obviously very ill?

    The instructions to paramedics need to be changed. Tamiflu is not necessarily sufficient alone for a severe swine flu infection and I cannot understand why this case was not taken to A&E for further evaluation. The system is geared to relieve the pressure on hospitals and the NHS; however, the implication of this is that instuctions are that if a case IS swine flu and someone has breathing difficulties, it is OK to leave them at home taking anti-virals. It isn't.

    this is the third such death I am aware of, and don't know how many 'near misses' there have been. Assesment protocols are in urgent need of refinement. The hospitals are not overwhelmed yet, so there is no excuse. Keeping people out of hospitals is not a way to lower mortality rates.

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