Northern Irish baby did not die of swine flu
Filed under: Baby public health — Alan @ 6:03 am
It has now been confirmed by the Department of Health that a Northern Ireland baby who died in a hospital was diagnosed with the swine flu.
In a statement however, it was said that the predominating reason for the cause of death was a pre-existing heart condition that the child was born with.
Due to the fact that the family wants to remain private, the age and sex of the baby was not released to the public. The Health Minister, Michael McGimpsey, said that the Department of Health will respect their wishes and that no further details on the death of the child will be made public.
McGimpsey stated that while there is some media and public interest in the story it is important to keep in mind that there is a family in grieving at this time and they should be allowed their privacy.
The last person to die from swine flu in Ireland was a woman from County Antrim in August. She had also been fighting cancer at the same time that she succumbed to the swine flu.
217 cases of swine flu have been confirmed by lab tests in Northern Ireland, but over 9,000 cases of the swine fly have been clinically diagnosed.
