Another 150 Swine Flu Cases for Uk

More than 150 new cases of swine flu have been confirmed today, after English health officials detected the largest number of cases in a single day in the Birmingham area.

The Health Protection Agency said 141 cases were found, with 124 of those in the West Midlands, the region with the largest swine flu outbreak in England. A further case appeared in Northern Ireland.

In Scotland, 10 new cases were confirmed, bringing the UK total to 1544, but doubts emerged about the new tactics being used to assess cases in Scotland, leading to another change in strategy.

Last week, the Scottish health secretary, Nicola Sturgeon, announced that GPs in the worst affected areas around Glasgow would be allowed to make instant clinical diagnoses of swine flu without using laboratory tests because the H1N1 virus appeared to be widespread in the community.

But after it emerged that 351 possible cases had been detected by GPs today in the Glasgow area, the Scottish government said it would treat those as potential cases until a large sample could be retested in laboratories to assess the accuracy of these results.

"These cases involve people with clinical symptoms who have been given antivirals but are subject to further checking as we continue to assess the effectiveness of clinical diagnosis," the Scottish government said.

But, two days after Jacqui Fleming became the first Briton to die with H1N1 virus, the number of people in hospital in Scotland with swine flu dropped from nine to five today.

Fleming's family is now absorbing the death last night of her premature baby son Jack, who was induced nearly three months early when Fleming fell critically-ill at the Royal Alexandra hospital.

The baby, her third son, did not die from swine flu but other complications.

In a statement issued on his behalf, Fleming's partner William McCann said: "My beautiful son was born on 1st June 2009, 11 weeks early.

"He suffered from a number of complications and despite his brave fight he passed away at the Special Care Baby Unit at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley.

"Coming so soon after the death of his mum, this is an extremely distressing and difficult time for our family."

Fleming was the first confirmed death outside the Americas, where 163 people have died, according to the latest World Health Organization figures. Nearly 36,000 people worldwide have so far contracted the virus.