First swine flu transfer case in UK

12 April 2012

The number of people with swine flu has risen to 13 as the first case of a person contracting the disease from within the UK was confirmed.

Graeme Pacitti, 24, tested positive for the virus after coming into contact with football team-mate Iain Askham, who fell ill after his honeymoon in Mexico.

Mr Askham and his new wife Dawn, from Polmont, near Falkirk, were released from hospital on Thursday after spending five nights in isolation.

Minutes after hearing the result, Mr Pacitti said: "I'm gutted really. I just found out. I saw Iain last Thursday, he wasn't showing any symptoms then. My friends thought he looked a bit tired but we thought it was just jet-lag."

A 12-year-old schoolgirl at Downend School in South Gloucestershire, near Bristol was diagnosed with swine flu and is "home and well", her head teacher later said.

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) told the school to close immediately. It will reopen on May 11, again on HPA advice.

Regional director of public health for the south west Dr Gabriel Scally confirmed the girl had arrived from Mexico last week on the same flight as Scottish couple Iain and Dawn Askham and that her family had been given medication, but he was unsure whether they had shown any symptoms of the virus.

The Department of Health confirmed four new cases on Friday - one a woman from Merseyside who has recently returned from Mexico; a case in the south east; and two cases in the south west, one of which is the first non-Mexican case in England.

Tests are continuing on more than 600 suspected cases of the disease. Cases have now been confirmed in Newcastle, Scotland, Merseyside, Devon, Worcestershire, Gloucestershire and London. All those in the UK who have contracted the disease appear to be suffering mild symptoms.

In Wales, 16 possible cases of swine flu have been ruled out and another 20 patients, all with mild symptoms and travel links to Mexico or the US, are being investigated, the Welsh Assembly Government said.

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