Asmaa Hussain died shortly after an epileptic seizure

Two nine-year-old girls and a man have died after contracting swine flu, health officials have confirmed.

One of the girls was named by relatives as Asmaa Hussain, of Dewsbury in West Yorkshire, who died last Thursday.

The man, who died on Sunday, was named by neighbours, also in Dewsbury, as Abdullah Patel, who taught at the town's Institute for Islamic Education.

The other girl, from south London, also died over the weekend. All three had serious underlying health problems.

An uncle of Asmaa Hussain said his niece had been an epilepsy sufferer since birth and had died shortly after a seizure on Thursday night.

After her death doctors told the family that tests showed she had contracted swine flu.

Heath officials said there was no known connection between her and Mr Patel.

Mr Patel, who is believed to be in his 40s, taught at Dewsbury's Institute for Islamic Education, which has been closed since 30 June after several students became infected with swine flu.

A spokeswoman for NHS Kirklees said of both the Dewsbury cases: "At this stage we have no confirmation whether or not swine flu was the cause of death."

The deaths take the number of UK swine flu sufferers who have died to seven.

Last week a 19-year-old man from south London, also with underlying health problems, died after contracting the virus.

The other three people to die from swine flu in the UK also had underlying health issues.

Jacqui Fleming, 38, of Glasgow, was the first after contracting the virus last month, two weeks after her son, Jack, was born 11 weeks prematurely.

Jack died later but had not contracted the virus.

The second victim was a 73-year-old man from the Inverclyde area of Scotland.

The youngest UK victim was six-year-old Sameerah Ahmad.

She was born with a rare life-threatening disease and died at Birmingham's Children's Hospital after contracting swine flu, although it is unclear if it contributed to her death.

An NHS London spokesman said: "Once again we wish to take this opportunity to remind the public that for most people this is a minor illness and that they should start to feel better after a few days without needing to go to their GP or A&E.

"However, some people may be more susceptible to the virus. If you have flu-like symptoms it's important that you talk to your doctor if you are pregnant, very young, over-65 or have long-term conditions such as asthma or diabetes."

Earlier experts warned that the number of swine flu cases in the UK could rise to 100,000 a day by the end of next month.
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Thousands of people in the UK have now caught swine flu

Fourteen patients are now thought to have died in the UK after contracting swine flu, the government has said.

Not all of those had died as a direct result of swine flu, but they had all had the virus, England's chief medical officer Sir Liam Donaldson said.

There are 335 people in hospital in England with swine flu, of whom 43 are in critical care.

The number of swine flu cases in London and the West Midlands is approaching epidemic levels, Sir Liam added.

The UK now has the third highest number of swine flu cases in the world - 9,718 - after the US and Mexico.

As of Wednesday, Mexico had 10,262 cases, and there were 33,902 confirmed cases in the US.

Of the 14 deaths in the UK, 12 have occurred in England and two in Scotland

Sir Liam said the true number of people in the UK suffering from the virus was unknown, as many people would be treating themselves at home rather than contacting their GP.

Natural deaths

"We do have to remain cautious, the virus may change or mutate, but as it stands at the moment, it's not a severe illness for most people but some people can get it very severely," he said.

"That's why getting a vaccine in place is vitally important."

Various methods are being used to evaluate the number of cases, including laboratory testing on sample groups and monitoring of some GP practices and the number of calls received by NHS Direct.

The Ministry of Justice has announced that there will not be any inquests into the deaths of two people who died after contracting swine flu, as it was not necessary for coroners to hold inquests into deaths linked to the virus.

"There's no requirement to hold an inquest into a natural death," a spokeswoman said.

"Deaths from swine flu would be regarded by coroners as natural."
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The US has far more cases than the UK, but the population there is bigger than here.

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The NHS said the patient had no underlying health conditions

A patient in Essex has become the first person in the UK without underlying health problems to die of swine flu.

NHS East of England said the victim died at Basildon and Thurrock University Hospital on Friday.

A spokesman said the hospital trust "would like to extend their deepest sympathies to the family affected as they come to terms with their loss".

On Thursday the government said 14 people were thought to have died in the UK after contracting swine flu.

Epidemic levels

England's chief medical officer Sir Liam Donaldson said not all of those had died as a direct result of swine flu but they had all had the virus.

Of the 14 deaths, 12 occurred in England and two in Scotland.

The number of swine flu cases in London and the West Midlands was approaching epidemic levels, he added.

Virology expert Professor John Oxford, of Queen Mary's College of Medicine in London, said the death was to be expected and should not cause panic.

"We've all been gritting our teeth, waiting for this to happen, and now it has. This doesn't necessarily mean the virus has mutated.

"Whether more patients with no underlying health problems die of the disease really depends on what the virus does next."

He added: "As the virus moves through the community you'll get some people who have no symptoms, some who have mild symptoms, some who get very ill and some who die, including those without any underlying health problems."

Severe illness

BBC News health correspondent Branwen Jeffreys said: "This was someone with no previous health problems, but not perhaps surprising.

"Although this flu virus has been fairly mild in most people there is always the possibility with flu that it can be a severe illness."

At the request of the patient's family no further details about the victim will be released by the health service.

Dr Andrea Atherton, director of public health for NHS South East Essex, said: "We would like to reassure people that the risk of transmission still remains small.

"It is important to stress that the symptoms of swine flu are, relatively speaking, mild.

"Unless you have flu-like symptoms and are being tested for swine flu, there is absolutely no need to stop your normal everyday activities."

Two people in Canvey Island are being treated for a mild form of swine flu and the East of England has seen 14 cases overall, a spokeswoman said.