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Teenage boy dies as flu toll hits
Adam Cresswell, Health editor | July 24, 2009
Article from: The Australian
A TEENAGE boy and a 25-year-old man are among the latest victims to die as the swine flu pandemic sweeps Australia, amid claims a toddler has also become infected while being treated in isolation for other health problems.
The 13-year-old boy and an 84-year-old man both died in hospital on the Sunshine Coast on Monday, Queensland chief medical officer Jeanette Young said yesterday.
The 25-year-old man died in the Royal Adelaide Hospital on Wednesday evening after being admitted three days earlier, according to authorities in South Australia.
The deaths took the national total of swine flu-related deaths to 46, with another 103 in intensive care:surrender:of 256 in hospitals nationwide.
All three of the latest fatalities had other underlying health conditions, but no further details were released.
Meanwhile, the father of an 18-month-old toddler from Warilla, south of Wollongong in NSW, has claimed his son was diagnosed with swine flu on Sunday while being treated for a rare intestinal condition in isolation in the Sydney Children's Hospital, where he has been since birth.
"They just said he had swine flu and that was it," Justin Tobler said of his son Kody.
"I asked where (he got it from but) they didn't give me any answers. They wouldn't even answer me. They just walked away from me," he told ABC news. "I believe if a kid's caught something in hospital, then it should be rectified and if they know that they've caught it there, then they should clean the hospital."
A spokeswoman for the South Eastern Sydney Illawarra Area Health Service refused to confirm or deny the man's claims, saying its policy was never to comment on patient details.
Dr Young warned that vulnerable groups - defined as indigenous people, pregnant women, those with respiratory diseases and other problems including heart disease, diabetes, kidney and liver disease, obesity and impaired immunity - should seek medical help as soon as they noticed flu-like symptoms.
However, in NSW, the government yesterday stood accused of exposing pregnant women to unnecessary risk, with claims by Opposition Leader Barry O'Farrell that the swine flu clinic at Bankstown Hospital in Sydney's southwest had been located too close to the antenatal unit.
Mr O'Farrell called on Health Minister John Della Bosca to immediately review the siting of the clinic, and to "tell us how many other hospitals across the state have similar flawed clinical arrangements".
"Given the state and federal government warnings about the dangers of swine flu to pregnant women, this decision makes no sense and flies in the face of all medical advice," Mr O'Farrell said.
"Hospital staff have told me they are concerned about the risk of cross-infection, especially pregnant mums and their unborn children.
"More alarmingly, the staff also say when they raised those concerns, they fell on deaf ears."
A spokeswoman for Mr Della Bosca was unable to comment on the claims last night.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25826916-5006784,00.html
Adam Cresswell, Health editor | July 24, 2009
Article from: The Australian
A TEENAGE boy and a 25-year-old man are among the latest victims to die as the swine flu pandemic sweeps Australia, amid claims a toddler has also become infected while being treated in isolation for other health problems.
The 13-year-old boy and an 84-year-old man both died in hospital on the Sunshine Coast on Monday, Queensland chief medical officer Jeanette Young said yesterday.
The 25-year-old man died in the Royal Adelaide Hospital on Wednesday evening after being admitted three days earlier, according to authorities in South Australia.
The deaths took the national total of swine flu-related deaths to 46, with another 103 in intensive care:surrender:of 256 in hospitals nationwide.
All three of the latest fatalities had other underlying health conditions, but no further details were released.
Meanwhile, the father of an 18-month-old toddler from Warilla, south of Wollongong in NSW, has claimed his son was diagnosed with swine flu on Sunday while being treated for a rare intestinal condition in isolation in the Sydney Children's Hospital, where he has been since birth.
"They just said he had swine flu and that was it," Justin Tobler said of his son Kody.
"I asked where (he got it from but) they didn't give me any answers. They wouldn't even answer me. They just walked away from me," he told ABC news. "I believe if a kid's caught something in hospital, then it should be rectified and if they know that they've caught it there, then they should clean the hospital."
A spokeswoman for the South Eastern Sydney Illawarra Area Health Service refused to confirm or deny the man's claims, saying its policy was never to comment on patient details.
Dr Young warned that vulnerable groups - defined as indigenous people, pregnant women, those with respiratory diseases and other problems including heart disease, diabetes, kidney and liver disease, obesity and impaired immunity - should seek medical help as soon as they noticed flu-like symptoms.
However, in NSW, the government yesterday stood accused of exposing pregnant women to unnecessary risk, with claims by Opposition Leader Barry O'Farrell that the swine flu clinic at Bankstown Hospital in Sydney's southwest had been located too close to the antenatal unit.
Mr O'Farrell called on Health Minister John Della Bosca to immediately review the siting of the clinic, and to "tell us how many other hospitals across the state have similar flawed clinical arrangements".
"Given the state and federal government warnings about the dangers of swine flu to pregnant women, this decision makes no sense and flies in the face of all medical advice," Mr O'Farrell said.
"Hospital staff have told me they are concerned about the risk of cross-infection, especially pregnant mums and their unborn children.
"More alarmingly, the staff also say when they raised those concerns, they fell on deaf ears."
A spokeswoman for Mr Della Bosca was unable to comment on the claims last night.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25826916-5006784,00.html