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UK swine flu death toll hits 16 Girl's death takes flu toll to 16
(about 2 hours later)
A patient from London has died after contracting swine flu, taking the number of swine flu-related deaths in the UK to 16, the government has said. A six-year-old girl from London has died after contracting swine flu, taking the number of swine flu-related deaths in the UK to 16.
NHS London said no further details would be released until this afternoon. Chloe Buckley, from north west London, died on Thursday at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, central London.
It follows the death last week of a patient in Basildon, Essex, who had no underlying health problems. A post-mortem examination will be held to see if she had any underlying health problems, NHS London said.
England's chief medical officer Sir Liam Donaldson has said cases of swine flu in London and the West Midlands are reaching epidemic levels. Her death follows the death last week of a patient in Basildon, Essex, who had no underlying health problems.
The latest death comes amid reports that swine flu has now reached Downing Street.
It is understood that Michael Jacobs, Gordon Brown's climate change adviser, was infected during a recent visit to Mexico where the strain originated.
There has been extensive preparation in Downing Street to minimise the spread of swine flu Number 10 spokesman
Mr Jacobs was told not to attend last week's G8 summit in L'Aquila, Italy, to prevent him infecting other delegates.
A Number 10 spokesman said: "There has been extensive preparation in Downing Street to minimise the spread of swine flu.
"The Cabinet Office has issued guidance to managers and information is available to civil servants on how to deal with suspected cases."
The UK has the third highest total number of confirmed cases in the world after the US, which has at least 33,902 cases and Mexico, which has 10,262.
Mild symptoms
Nearly 10,000 Britons have been confirmed with swine flu.
However, hundreds of thousands more people in the UK are thought to have the virus.
The total number of cases in the country are now being estimated rather than counted individually.
Of the deaths, 14 have been in England, with the remaining two in Scotland.
The government said that deaths from swine flu in patients with no underlying health problems cannot be ruled out but will be rare.
It said for the vast majority of people infected, the new flu virus had produced only mild symptoms.