The family of the first British swine flu patient to die said today they were "absolutely devastated" as health experts tried to allay public fears about the virulence of the virus.
Jacqui Fleming, 38, from Carnwadric in south Glasgow, was named today as the first person outside the Americas to have died since the H1N1 virus first emerged in Mexico more than three months ago.
Fleming had underlying health problems, and died in intensive care at the Royal Alexandra hospital in Paisley on Sunday, two weeks after giving birth prematurely to her third child. The birth was induced nearly three months early because of her critical condition.
NHS Greater Glasgow said tonight that her son, named Jack, also died today. An NHS spokesman said the baby did not die from swine flu.
A statement issued on behalf of Ms Fleming's partner William McCann, said: "My beautiful son was born on 1st June 2009, 11 weeks early.
"He suffered from a number of complications and despite his brave fight he passed away earlier this evening at the Special Care Baby Unit at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley.
"Coming so soon after the death of his mum, this is an extremely distressing and difficult time for our family and I would ask the media to respect our privacy as we try to cope with the loss of Jacqueline and Jack."
A statement from NHS Greater Glasgow said: "Earlier this evening, baby Jack, the son of Jacqueline Fleming and her partner William McCann, tragically passed away."
She leaves two other children, one boy aged 18 and another at primary school. Her family said: "Our whole family is absolutely devastated and we are doing everything we can to support Jacqueline's two sons and her partner.
"Jacqueline has been ill in hospital for a number of weeks but nothing can prepare you for such shattering news."
Alex Salmond, the Scottish secretary, and Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish health secretary, were joined by Ed Balls, the UK government's children, schools and families secretary, in sending the family condolences.
A family friend said the death was a tragedy. "I think they are taking it really badly," she said. "They hoped she was going to pull through and it was a shock when she died. She was a really nice lady, really kind, a quiet woman, just a family person really."
Fleming was one of 10 people in hospital with swine flu in Scotland, where hospitalisation rates are the same as in the United States, the second worst affected country.
The total UK figure jumped to 1,320 today, with a further 59 cases in England, chiefly in the West Midlands.
However, Sir Liam Donaldson, the chief medical officer for England and Wales, said the virus was causing very few illnesses compared with normal seasonal flu viruses, although a "large surge" in numbers was likely this autumn.
With more than 30,000 people affected worldwide, the World Health Organisation reported last Friday that only 145 had died. Pregnant women were more vulnerable to this particular virus, Donaldson added.
"If we look at the pattern of this illness worldwide, generally for most people it hasn't been a severe illness," he said.
"In a bad seasonal flu winter we would get between 400,000 to 500,000 people falling ill with flu."
Professor Hugh Pennington, a bacteriologist at Aberdeen University, said that swine flu deaths were not unexpected.
"It does not point to the virus getting nastier. All the evidence to date suggests the virus is not changing at all," he said.
"This is a flu virus, it is in no way different from an ordinary winter flu virus, so if there are enough cases some people will have to be admitted to hospital and some will die."
