Health officials have reassured the public that the risk from swine flu remains low after the first death from the virus in the UK.
The patient, who died in hospital in Scotland, became the first person outside of the Americas to have been killed by the disease. The 38-year-old woman is believed to have had underlying health problems.
In a statement last night, the Scottish government said: “With regret, we can confirm that one of the patients who had been in hospital and had been confirmed as suffering from the H1N1 virus, has died today.
“At the family's request, to allow them some time to come to terms with their loss, no further details will be revealed tonight.”
Last week the World Health Organisation confirmed that swine flu had become the first global flu pandemic in 40 years. Though this does not mean that the virus has become more virulent it does mean that the number of worldwide cases is likely to rise considerably.
Out of the 1,261 cases in the UK, 500 are in Scotland, with the large majority in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde area.
Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish health secretary, had previuousy warned that a fatality was likely after the virus continued to spread across Glasgow.
But last night she insisted that the risk to the public remained "low" and emphasised that most sufferers had only "mild symptoms".
She said: "I’d like to express my condolences to the patient’s family and friends. They have my heartfelt sympathy.
"I would like to emphasise that the vast majority of those who have H1N1 are suffering from relatively mild symptoms.
"The risk to the general public remains low and we can all play our part in slowing the spread of the virus by following simple procedures like washing your hands and using tissues when coughing or sneezing."
Andy Burnham, the new Health Secretary, said on Friday that Britain was planning to stockpile enough anti-viral drugs to treat 80 per cent of the population. It currently has enough to treat half of the population.
A Department of Health spokesman said: “The localised cases of swine flu found in the UK have so far been generally mild in most people, but are proving to be severe in a small minority of cases. We are continuing to work to slow the spread of the disease and to put in place arrangements to ensure that the UK is well-placed to deal with this new infection.”
In common with most flu viruses, the number of cases is expected to rise considerably during the autumn and the winter but experts say that unless the virus mutates the number of deaths is likely to remain relatively low.
