[Swine Flu] Pregnant women from UK take to Sweden for treatment.

[Ravenholm]

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20090724/tuk-critical-pregnant-flu-victim-flown-t-45dbed5.html

I hope she recovers real soon. She lives in Kilmarnock, that's only thirty miles from where I live.

I recently heard as well that a pregnant women in the UK died after giving birth. I can't remember if the baby is dead as well or if the wee thing survived. I hope the baby survived.

I'm kind of glad I don't have a partner that's pregnant at the moment. Because if I did, I'd probably end up making myself ill through worry for her saftey. I hope all ye pregnant women out there who have it, recover fully, or don't catch it.

 

[AndyHunter]

I hope she recovers too! But I cannot help wondering how much this is costing to fly her over to Sweden??
The cost of this swine flu to the UK alone must be enough to build a new hospital!

 

[Ravenholm]

Update:

Meanwhile, doctors in Stockholm, Sweden are still treating pregnant Scottish swine flu victim Sharon Pentleton, 26, who is described as, "stable but still critical".

Ms Pendleton was flown to Sweden for specialist treatment following an adverse reaction to the virus, as no beds for the procedure were available in Britain.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20090726/tuk-warning-over-swine-flu-pandemic-of-p-45dbed5.html

 

[sexarise! chick]

That's so sad. I hope she gets better.

 

[Ravenholm]

UPDATE:

Ayrshire Post - 20th September 2009.

Headline: Scots to get high-tech cure for Swine Flu.

The specialist treatment that saved the life of a young Scotswoman in Sweden is to be introduced to Scotland.

Last month, swine flu victim Sharon Pentleton, from north Ayrshire, had to be flown to Sweden for treatment on an ECMO machine, when no beds were available in Leicester, the only unit in the UK which provides the procedure. She had collapsed after contracting swine flu.

But now Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon has pledged to bring the treatment to a Scottish hospital.

Each ECMO [extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation] treatment costs 80,000 pounds for an adult and 15,000 pounds for a child.

Much of the cost comes from the highly-trained team of around 15 nurses who are required to operate the machine, which takes blood from the veins, and passes it through a gas-exchange machine, removing carbon dioxide and adding oxygen.

The idea is that the machine takes over the job of the lungs, giving them time to recover. In the past most ECMO treatment has been reserved for new-born children, who's lungs have not fully developed.

There are already ECMO beds available in Scotland for children at Yorkhill hospital, in Glasgow, but none for adults.

The success of the treatment in Sharon Pentleton's case has encouraged the Scottish government to invest in ECMO beds for adults for the first time. How many, and where they are to be sited, is still under consideration.

Swine Flu victims whose lungs are badly damaged - a very small percentage of those affected by the virus - have a better chance of survival if ECMO is available.

A source close to Ms Sturgeon said: It is clear that ECMO can be of benefit to some patients, and the health secretary is determined that we have the ability to increase existing provisions.

It looks like Sharon and her little baby will be ok after all sinse she has recovered thanks to the ECMO treatment.