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Parents at dead girl's school plead for advice on virus
Danny Brierley and Rashid Razaq14 Jul 2009
Parents in the west London district where six-year-old Chloe Buckley died from swine flu appealed today for more information on the virus.
They warned that conflicting official advice was adding to their anxiety, after Chloe died last Thursday less than 48 hours after she told her mother she was suffering from a sore throat.
Several said they were uncertain how to protect their children as they left a meeting at St Catherine's Roman Catholic School, West Drayton, where Chloe was a pupil, organised by headteacher Sara Benn and Hillingdon council. One father, who did not want to be named, said: "My daughter goes to the school and I am terrified. No one can tell me what I should do, where I can get medication, when people are going to be vaccinated."
Daphne May, 62, whose nine-year-old granddaughter Tianne goes to the school, said parents were "scared" and "all just panicking".
"My granddaughter knew Chloe. I'm very shocked and very scared. Everybody is frightened. They said by August they would have medication ready. But what happens in September if things aren't done?" she said.
Chloe's parents, Jacinta, 37, and Michael, 40, were being comforted at their home less than a mile away from the school with Chloe's older brothers Shane, 12, and Dillon, 10.
Her GP reportedly diagnosed tonsillitis and sent her home without prescribing the anti-viral drug Tamiflu, but Chloe - who would have been seven on Friday - died in St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, after her condition deteriorated rapidly.
A post-mortem examination is to be carried out, with provisional tests showing that Chloe had the H1N1 of the swine flu virus.
One neighbour, who did not wish to be named, said: "On Monday after school she was just running around. She said she was having a summer fete at her school, and gave us a leaflet. That was the last time we saw her. She was looking fine."
MPs also called for the public to be given better information and said inquests should be held where necessary amid concerns that the absence of a proper explanation of some swine flu deaths was adding to people's anxiety.
Norman Lamb, the Liberal Democrat health spokesman, said: "There may well be a compelling case for holding inquests, particularly at this stage where our knowledge is limited and the impact of this condition is still unclear. There is a danger of the Government being overwhelmed and not taking proper steps now."
Mike Penning, the Conservative health spokesman for London, stopped short of calling for inquests because of the risk that front-line staff would be diverted from other duties.
He insisted, however, that full investigations should be conducted into each death: "I would want to make sure that all the relevant tests are being done on anybody who is likely to have died as a result of swine flu or as a contributory factor."
Chloe was the first child in Britain without any apparent underlying health problems to die of swine flu. Two adults with no previous health problems have also died, although the total number of fatalities from the virus has reached 17.
