Policeman's wife twice wrongly diagnosed with swine flu dies of Legionnaires' disease 'in terrible circumstances'

Here's the fifth example:

A senior policeman's wife died 'in terrible circumstances' from Legionnaires' disease after her symptoms were twice 'mistaken' for swine flu.

Carol Rowe, 46 was told she had swine flu by an ambulance crew who 'refused' to take her to hospital twice after emergency calls. Her furious husband, Detective Inspector Kevin Rowe of Thames Valley Police, said she died in 'terrible circumstances' after paramedics told the mother-of-two she was 'panicking'. Mrs Rowe, who had lung problems after suffering from TB three years ago, as well as asthma, rang for an ambulance after feeling severely unwell.

Det Insp Row, 46, from Thatcham, Berkshire, said that on the first visit the ambulance service made a diagnosis of swine flu and refused to take her to hospital. They returned two days later and again did not take her to hospital. After becoming increasingly more ill, a doctor told one of her children to call an ambulance with an oxygen supply and take her to hospital. Mrs Rowe was put on a life support machine at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading but died four days later...

Source: The Daily Mail

Anger after swine 'flu misdiagnosis

...and here's another one:

A woman who was told she had swine flu ended up in hospital with a serious leg infection.

Anne Smith, 48, of Wagstaff Lane, Jacksdale, initially thought she had swine flu and rang the national helpline which issued her with Tamiflu drugs to treat it. She also saw her GP who said he thought she had the virus. But Ms Smith and her family were concerned the diagnosis was wrong as she has a heart condition and they wanted her to see a GP again because her leg was beginning to swell.

So four days later she went to a walk-in health centre in Nottingham and explained what had happened. But she was turned away because the centre thought she was infected with swine flu.

Ms Smith's son, David, said: "Her leg was four times its normal size and the man at the desk just said, 'Go home'. I find it so hard to believe that in this day and age someone can go to a medical centre where you are supposed to trust people and they can treat you like that."

Worried David, 26, eventually took his mum to King's Mill Hospital in Sutton- in-Ashfield which diagnosed cellulitis, caused by poor circulation due to the heart condition. He claimed doctors said if it had been 24 hours later the infection might have killed her because it was spreading.

"If it had gone to her heart it would have given her septicaemia and with her heart being the way it is, who knows what would have happened. I was trying to explain to them on the phone that she had a heart problem and many of the symptoms he was reading out she suffered with anyway. I said I think someone really needs to see her. People with serious underlying problems should not just be diagnosed over the phone. It seems madness to me. We are not talking about GPs – just people checking off a list of symptoms. How can someone who is not a qualified GP talk to someone with serious problems and prescribe them Tamiflu? It's a good idea to do something about the pandemic, but more people are going to die from serious underlying problems being misdiagnosed."

A spokesperson for the walk-in centre said flu symptoms were assessed by a nurse who checked whether patients needed emergency care. If they did, they were put in an isolated area to wait for an ambulance and if they did not they were advised to go home and ring their GP.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health said: "You should contact your doctor direct rather than using the National Pandemic Flu Service if you have a serious underlying illness. "The questions asked by the National Pandemic Flu Service (NPFS) to determine whether a person has swine flu have been agreed by a range of clinicians and specialist UK Royal Colleges."

Ms Smith is in hospital and is expected to make a full recovery.

Source: Eastwood & Kimberley Advertiser.

Stop phone diagnosis say family of North Wales teen who died after being told he had swine flu

Here's the third case of somebody being diagnosed with swine 'flu and then dying of something completely different ...

AN on-line petition against phone diagnosis has been launched by the family of a teenager who died after being wrongly told she had swine flu.

The funeral takes place today of 16-year-old Charlotte Hartey from Quinta, near Oswestry, who died on July 31 at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.

She had tonsillitis, but her symptoms had been diagnosed as swine flu.

Her father, Karl, says over-the-phone diagnosis must stop before others suffer similar tragedies...

Source: Daily Post North Wales

Meningitis killed woman wrongly diagnosed with swine flu

A woman diagnosed with swine flu died of meningitis just days later, an inquest heard today.

Jasvir Kaur Gill, 48, started suffering from a sore throat and vomiting.

She was given a telephone diagnosis of Swine Flu and told to take Tamiflu, but just 12 hours later the mother-of-three from Leicester had collapsed and was taken to hospital. An inquest opening at the city's Town Hall today heard she died of meningococcal septicaemia - blood poisoning caused by the same bacteria that causes meningitis - four days later.

Today her 25-year-old son Sukhvinder Gill called for doctors to consider other illnesses than Swine Flu when making diagnoses.

At the hearing today, Mr Gill told Leicester City Coroner Catherine Mason that his mother started complaining of a sore throat during the evening of Saturday, August 1.

She then vomited repeatedly through the night, prompting her husband to call NHS Direct at 5am on Sunday.

This is the second case: we reported this story last week.

Source: The Metro

Probe into girl's meningitis death

Health bosses are investigating whether a two-year-old girl who died from suspected meningitis was wrongly diagnosed with swine flu.

The parents of Georgia Keeling from Norwich claim paramedics "diagnosed her before even looking at her" and gave Tamiflu before her condition worsened and she died in hospital. News of her death comes after it emerged at least one call centre for the Government's National Flu Pandemic Service for England was employing 16-year-olds, sparking concern about the inexperience of staff.

The parents of Georgia, died at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital on Tuesday, said they were twice told her symptoms sounded like swine flu before she was finally taken to hospital. Their local health centre first said Georgia probably had swine flu and advised them to call the swine flu helpline which said she had only one of the symptoms and suggested that they should call NHS Direct.

NHS Direct then advised them to take the little girl to hospital only if her temperature rose above 40 degrees C but, an hour later, Georgia's condition worsened and her mother called an ambulance. A paramedic who arrived first said it sounded like Georgia had swine flu and so the ambulance would not come out.

Georgia's mother Tasha Keeling was given Calpol and Tamiflu and told to put Georgia to bed, the girl's father, Paul Sewell, 21, said. An hour later, her worried mother called for an ambulance again and Georgia was taken to hospital where she died.

A hospital spokesman said the suspected cause of death was meningitis. Sources said the investigation into the little girl's death would look into all aspects of her care - including the possibility that she may have been wrongly diagnosed as having swine flu.

Source: The Metro