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A UNION chief who lives in Little Sutton has paid tribute to his sister, who has died of suspected swine flu.

Tony Woodley, outgoing joint general secretary of Unite paid tribute to his youngest sister Christine Woodley, who died aged 54 last week after an eight-day battle against the illness in Arrowe Park Hospital, Wirral.

Her death leaves her children, thought to be 18 and 22, without a parent after their father died at just 48 two years ago.

The Wallasey resident already suffered from chest problems but her heath deteriorated after contracting the H1N1 virus.

Mr Woodley said: “She hadn’t been a well person.

“She contracted swine flu and ended up going into Arrowe Park and after eight days she was dead.

“She was a chesty person.”

Officials from Wirral Borough Council were last week seen clearing out her home wearing masks as a precaution against the virus.

At the end of this month Mr Woodley steps down from his role as joint-general secretary of Unite, a post he has held since 2007.

In 1967 he started working for Vauxhall in Ellesmere Port, where he joined the TGWU. He is also president of Vauxhall Motors FC.

Arrowe Park Hospital cancelled visiting to general wards on December 29 to help combat the spread of flu. The restrictions were relaxed so that each patient could have one visitor per session on January 5.

Swine flu mother off her ventilator
By chris campbell chris.campbell@glosmedia.co.uk

BRAVE swine flu victim Leanne Gunnell is off her ventilator and making good progress, according to her family.

Leanne 21, from Robinswood, has been moved to a neurology ward at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital as she continues to fight the virus.

Doctors feared the former Oxstalls School pupil and her unborn child wouldn't survive when she was rushed to hospital in November and put into an induced coma.

It was originally believed she was suffering from pneumonia, but then tested positive for swine flu.

Her devastated parents Simon, 44, and Sharon, 43, were at one stage told to prepare for switching off her life support machine.

But Simon now says Leanne is improving every day.

Simon, 44, said: "She's on the mend. It's going to be a long battle but she is making small steps of improvement every day."

Leanne, a receptionist at the Premier Inn in Barnwood, fell ill with a suspected chest infection when she was seven months pregnant.

She suffered brain damage when doctors put her into the coma in an effort to save her unborn child.

Faith Charlotte was born at 8.19pm on November 30, weighing just three pounds.

"She's nice and fit and is gaining weight," Simon said.

"We are visiting the hospital every day. The family has bonded together as a result of what happened. We're one big fighting machine."

Leanne visited her GP in Matson in November where she was sent home with antibiotics for a suspected chest infection.

Once in hospital she was kept in her coma for more than four weeks as doctors tried to save her life, but they could not prevent her suffering brain damage.

Doctors in Warwick have treated 35 patients with swine flu since the first case was reported in December.

But only seven of those were sick enough to need intensive care.

A further 70 suspected victims were given the all clear or had not yet received conclusive results after being tested for the highly contagious H1N1 virus.

Neither Coventry’s University Hospital nor George Eliot Hospital in Nuneaton could provide up to date flu figures before the Telegraph went to press.

The figures for Warwick Hospital were presented to the board of directors at South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust yesterday.

Bosses were told some patients may have been exposed to swine flu on the wards – but there was no evidence anyone had contracted the virus on site.

Director of nursing Jane Ives said: “Unfortunately there have been several instances where suspected flu patients have not been identified until after admission to an open bay facility and subsequently moved to side room isolation.”

She said in all suspected or confirmed cases of swine flu, patients were transferred into isolation rooms, even though this had put pressure capacity had been tight.

Those who had come into close contact with swine flu patients and were therefore deemed to be at risk of contracting the virus, were also being traced.

So far, only two local men who were killed by swine flu this winter have been named. They are Paul Stokes, from Keresley, and Andy Martin, from Nuneaton.

Mr Stokes – who was born in Bedworth and was a well-known businessman in north Warwickshire – died in University Hospital on Christmas day, aged 58.

Popular publican Mr Martin, a former soldier and father-of-two passed away in George Eliot Hospital in his home town of Nuneaton, five days after admitting himself into the hospital.

The number of patients being treated for flu in Coventry and Warwickshire has fallen significantly since the start of January. But patients from high risk groups – such as pregnant women, pensioners and those with underlying health problems – are still urged to get their seasonal vaccine if they receive an invitation from their GP.
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HARROW and Brent hospitals have treated as many as 18 patients for swine flu in the past two months.

Since mid-November, North West London Hospitals NHS Trust, which looks after Northwick Park Hospital and Central Middlesex Hospital, has seen 32 suspected cases of swine flu, with 18 of them confirmed as being the H1N1 virus that hit the headlines last year.

Fiona Coogan, director of infection control and prevention at the trust, said hospitals were fully prepared to deal with the increase in flu patients.

She said: "We have detailed plans in place to ensure we are able to cope, should the need arise, with extra demand for our services as a result of increases in the number of people becoming ill with flu and flu-like illnesses.
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Flu levels have continued to fall in the past week with swine flu no longer even the dominant strain in circulation.

The numbers of people going to their GP with flu is now a third of what it was at its peak over Christmas, the Health Protection Agency data showed.

The outbreak had been driven by the swine flu virus, but cases have fallen recently.

The number of deaths linked to flu now stands at 338.

That is up from 254 last week, but the majority of those deaths did not occur during the past seven days. Instead, it has been taking labs several weeks to identify the reasons for deaths.

The GP data for England showed flu consultations stood at 41 per 100,000 people - a fall from just over 66 last week. Rates also fell across the rest of the UK.

Professor John Watson, from the HPA, said: "We appear to be over the peak of activity."

The fall has also seen the swine flu virus eased out as the dominant strain.

There are three types circulating this winter and strain B, which is more dangerous to the elderly than swine flu, is now the most common.

But despite the reduction in cases the overall levels are still higher than what would be expected during a normal winter.

Professor Dame Sally Davies, the government's interim chief medical officer, said: "Winter isn't over yet and we still all need to be on our guard against flu."

Latest figures from the Health Protection Agency (HPA) indicate that flu activity across the UK is now declining. Nevertheless flu is still circulating in the community and influenza A H1N1 (2009) 'swine' flu and influenza B remain the predominant strains. A small proportion of flu continues to result in severe disease, particularly in people under the age of 65.

In the week to 20th January 2011, the number of number of GP consultations in England had fallen to 66.5 per 100,000, down from 108.4 per 100,000 the previous week. Vaccine uptake among under 65s in a clinical ‘at risk’ group had reached 48%. Uptake among the over 65s – who are routinely offered the vaccine – was 71.7%.

The total number of people who are reported to have died from flu in the UK since the season began in October had reached 254 by 20 January 2011. Of the 254 confirmed deaths to date, information is available on 214 patients. Of these 195 had the H1N1 (2009) strain, three had untyped influenza A and 16 had influenza B. The majority of these deaths are reported to have occurred within the 15-64 age group.

"Our latest flu report suggests levels of flu are declining across the UK but nonetheless flu is still circulating in the community and the message remains that people in an at-risk group should get the seasonal flu vaccine – it’s not too late to protect yourself from flu this season,” explained Professor John Watson, head of the respiratory diseases department at the HPA.

“Flu is an unpleasant but self-limiting illness for most people but we can’t stress enough how it can be an extremely serious illness for people in ‘at risk’ groups, including pregnant women, the elderly and those with other underlying conditions such as heart problems, diabetes, lung, liver or renal diseases and those who have weakened immune systems.

“Ongoing HPA surveillance continues to indicate a modest increase in cases of some invasive bacterial infections such as pneumococcal and meningococcal disease and invasive Group A streptococcal Infection (iGAS) which may follow on from or be associated with influenza. Although we expect to see more cases of these bacterial infections during the winter months the HPA is monitoring the situation closely and currently investigating whether co-infection with flu is contributing to these increases,” Professor Watson concluded.

A new mother from Gloucestershire who was put in a coma after she contracted swine flu is now breathing on her own.

Receptionist Leanne Gunnell, 21, became ill when she was six-and-a-half months pregnant.

Doctors put her into a coma to save her unborn child. Baby Faith was delivered by caesarean at 28 weeks weighing 3lb (1.4kg).

Ms Gunnell's mother, Sharon, said Faith was expected to be allowed to leave hospital in a few weeks.

Ms Gunnell is being treated at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital.

She had gone to her doctors with a cold, was told she had a virus and given antibiotics. She was not tested for swine flu.

Four days later her parents took her to see an out-of-hours GP and was given the same diagnosis.

Baby Faith was delivered by caesarean at 28 weeks weighing 3lb (1.4kg) The next day she was taken to hospital coughing up blood and it was feared she had pneumonia.

Doctors found her lungs were badly damaged and there was little chance of her and the baby surviving.

They said the best chance was to put her into a coma and deliver the baby at 28 weeks.

Days after the birth on 30 November Mr and Mrs Gunnell were told their daughter had tested positive for swine flu and initial tests suggested she had suffered brain damage.

Both parents said the treatment their daughter and granddaughter had been receiving at the hospital was first class.

Dr Mike Roberts, acting medical director for NHS Gloucestershire, said: "It is important to stress that a patient's symptoms can change and develop from day to day and so we would want to review in detail what happened on this occasion."

The devastated parents of a tragic disabled girl have demanded answers after claiming their daughter was “failed” by the health system.

Ken and Eveline Waring claim Katie, 19, could not get a vital appointment after falling ill before Christmas, instead being told to ‘wrap her up warm and give her fluids’.

Less than two weeks later, Katie – who suffered from the rare brain condition Craniostenosis – died in Hartlepool General Hospital, after being diagnosed with pneumonia and swine flu.

It was a bitter pill for the heartbroken and angry couple, of Hartlepool, who also claim Katie’s brain defect wasn’t picked up in time by health experts after she was born.
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