Swine flu woman treated in Sweden

The woman was on a ventilator after suffering an extreme reaction

A pregnant woman critically ill with swine flu has been transferred to Sweden for specialised treatment after suffering an extreme reaction.

The 26-year-old woman was admitted to Crosshouse Hospital in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, with H1N1 last week.

But after complications, the hospital recommended a procedure in which her blood will be circulated out of her body and oxygen added artificially.

A Leicester unit which carries this out is full so she has been sent to Sweden.

The procedure is known as extra corporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and involves a machine taking over the function of the patient's heart and lungs.

'Highly specialised'

The UK has a national ECMO unit in Leicester, to which Scottish patients would normally be sent.

However, all five beds in this unit are currently in use.

A bed in a similar unit was found in Stockholm, where the woman has been flown to receive the treatment.

Scottish Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said: "The patient has now arrived at hospital in Stockholm.

"Doctors are pleased with how she has coped with the journey, which is obviously encouraging news.

"But the patient is critically ill, which is why she has had to be transferred for this highly specialised procedure."

She said the small number of beds in the UK reflected the fact that it was very rare for any patients to require the treatment.

But she added: "We're also part of pan-European arrangements, and it's by virtue of this that clinicians have been able to arrange this transfer."

Ms Sturgeon said she did not know if the patients currently being treated in the Leicester unit have swine flu.