Health chiefs have confirmed a further 116 cases of swine flu in the West Midlands, taking the numbers for the region up to 4,424, and nationally to 6,929.
Six-year-old Birmingham girl Sameerah Ahmad, who had a severe life-threatening disorder which affected her small intestine, died on Friday at Birmingham Children’s Hospital after contracting swine flu, but it is not known if this contributed to her death.
Sameerah, who lived with her parents in Edgbaston, and was a pupil at Mayfield School in Handsworth, was born with microvillus inclusion disease.
She is the third person in the UK to die of the disease.
In Solihull an outbreak of swine flu at a care home is thought to have affected six of the staff.
James Wood, managing director of Prime Life Ltd, which runs the Lyndon Croft Care Centre in Ulleries Road, Solihull, said: “We’ve had a small number of staff who have contracted the virus. We have put all the normal procedures in place.
“We did a note on display in the home. Staff have all had the appropriate antibiotics and are deemed safe to return to work.”
He added: “Staff at the home have been absolutely super. They have all worked hours for each other. We have had staff on standby from other homes, but we have not needed them.”
He said staff at the centre had been cleaning all surfaces and extra supplies of cleaning products were available to staff and clients at the home to prevent infection spreading.
The centre has remained open but a hold has been placed on new admissions to the centre and local GPs have been made aware. Mr Wood also urged relatives to avoid visiting unless it was essential.
The Strategic Health Authority has re-enforced the message that people should stay at home if they think they have swine flu and should not risk further infection at hospitals or doctors’ surgeries unless it is absolutely necessary.
Dr Rashmi Shukla CBE, Regional Director of Public Health said: “If people suspect that they may have swine flu, they should remain at home and ring NHS Direct or their GP.”
