Swine flu kills healthy patient

LONDON, July 11 (UPI) -- A swine flu patient who was otherwise healthy died Friday in England, health officials said.

The patient, who died at Basildon and Thurrock University Hospital in Essex, became the first person in the United Kingdom without underlying health problems to die of swine flu, the BBC said.

Twelve people infected with swine flu have died in England and Wales and two in Scotland. In most cases, they suffered from major health problems.

"We've all been gritting our teeth, waiting for this to happen, and now it has," said John Oxford, a virologist at St. Mary's Medical College in London. "This doesn't necessarily mean the virus has mutated."

Oxford said in any flu epidemic, some infected patients will have no symptoms or mild ones, some will become seriously ill and some will die.

Health officials worry about a repeat of the influenza pandemic that followed World War I. Millions of people died worldwide, and researchers are still unsure why that epidemic was so virulent.