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Pregnant Scot treated in Sweden for rare Swine flu complication

by mudricky | July 23, 2009 at 01:26 pm

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A 26-year-old pregnant woman from Kilmarnock in Scotland has been taken to Stockholm, Sweden for treatment for a swine flu complication.

The woman will have her blood circulated outwith her body and then oxygen added artificially.

A hospital ward in Leicester, England that would normally deal with the treatment with this condition for Scotland, as well as the rest of the UK but is full and cannot take her.

Scottish Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said: "The patient has now arrived at hospital in Stockholm.

"Doctors are pleased with how she has coped with the journey, which is obviously encouraging news.

"But the patient is critically ill, which is why she has had to be transferred for this highly specialised procedure."

The 26-year-old pregnant woman was admitted to Crosshouse Hospital in Kilmarnock with H1N1 last week.
The UK has a national ECMO unit in Leicester covering all four nations, to which Scottish patients would normally be sent.

However, all five beds in this unit are currently in use.

A bed in a similar unit was found in Stockholm, where the woman has been flown to receive the treatment.