02/10/2009

NI Swine Flu Mum Treated In England

A Northern Ireland woman suffering from swine flu and who had recently given birth has been airlifted to a specialist unit in England.

The news comes just hours after the Northern Ireland Department of Health said that a 'second wave' of swine flu infections might be underway across the Province.

The unnamed woman was a patient at the Ulster Hospital in Dundonald.

She gave birth to a healthy child at the hospital around ten days ago but now needs a procedure known as Extra Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation.

This came after the woman's condition worsened, prompting the hospital to recommend the highly specialised procedure.

This involves taking over the function of the heart and lungs when they are severely damaged, adding oxygen to the blood outside the body.

The woman has been transferred to Leicester, which has the only national Ecmo unit for adults and provides these specialist services for patients across the UK.

However, it is believed the baby does not have the virus.

(BMcC/KMcA)

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