Baby of first British swine flu casualty fighting for life

Doctors were forced to deliver the baby three months prematurely after its mother, Jacqui Fleming, 38, became ill.

The baby is now in a critical condition at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley, Scotland, but is not believed to have contracted the virus.

The news came as Ms Fleming's family told of their devastation at he death. The 38-year-old mother is the first person to die from the pandemic outside north America. She had been battling the virus for more than a fortnight.

In a statement release today the family said: "We can confirm that our beloved Jacqueline Fleming passed away yesterday afternoon.

"Our whole family is absolutely devastated and we are doing everything we can to support Jacqueline's two sons and her partner.

"Jacqueline has been ill in hospital for a number of weeks but nothing can prepare you for such shattering news and to that end we would ask the media to respect the privacy of our entire family so that we can grieve in peace."

Her two other children include a teenage son and another boy who is still at primary school in Thornliebank, in the south-west of the city.

Her new baby does not have the deadly virus but was in a critical condition in hospital today as a result of being born so early.

This first British death comes just days after the World Health Organisation declared the global swine flu outbreak an official pandemic, the first in 40 years.

The virus has spread to 74 countries including Australia where cases have soared fourfold in a week to more than 1,200 cases.

A total of 1,226 people have been diagnosed in the UK- the majority children attending private schools including Eton.

But health experts today said people should not panic because there was no evidence swine flu was becoming more virulent.

Bacteriologist Professor Hugh Pennington said the death of Mrs Fleming was very sad' but deaths were inevitable.

Professor Pennington, from Aberdeen University, said: "It's very sad but with the number of cases we have seen it is really something which was always going to happen sooner or later.

"Unfortunately, it is to be expected. It does not point to the virus getting nastier. All the evidence to date suggests the virus is not changing at all."

Doctors said Mrs Fleming was suffering from an underlying health condition as well as from swine flu when she was admitted to Glasgow's Southern General Hospital.

Neighbours at the block of flats where she lived confirmed the dead woman had previously suffered from strokes or seizures and had been critically ill in hospital for a significant period of time before her death.

Staff transferred her to Paisley's Royal Alexandra Hospital where doctors had to induce the birth of her baby at 29 weeks.

The child was then transferred to a specialist unit at Yorkhill Hospital in Glasgow while the mother remained in intensive care.

A 23-year-old nurse who treated Mrs Fleming at the Southern General Hospital has also tested positive for swine flu but is not thought to be seriously ill.

A resident of the block of flats where the dead mother-of-three lived said the family wanted to be left alone to come to terms with the tragedy.

Most sufferers experience regular flu symptoms and make a full recovery but the WHO has confirmed 141 deaths from 27,737 cases.

Experts predict the worse-case death toll could reach 94,000 in London- half the capital's population- as a result of a severe outbreak in which 3.25 million would be infected.

London's emergency planners have already drawn up pandemic' measures such as travel bans.

The Government's emergency planning committee Cobra will take the final decision on emergency action including the distribution of anti-viral drug Tamiflu.

Each part of the capital will have between 10 and 70 points where people can pick up anti-viral medication through a specially issued registration number.