No bed for man sick with swine flu

By Stuart Rintoul, The Australian

THE mother of a Victorian man who died from swine flu on Saturday said last night there was no intensive care bed available in the state when he was diagnosed as suffering from pneumonia.

Judith Splatt told The Australian at her home in Colac, in the state’s west, that her son Anthony had collapsed at home about 1pm on Thursday. Mr Splatt, the second Australian to die from the virus, was 35 years old, had type 2 diabetes and was obese.

“He became very ill and needed an intensive care bed,” she said. “I would like it known that there was none in the state available at that time.

“The health people tell us our health system is wonderful, but … on Thursday afternoon, there was no bed available.”

Mr Splatt’s family said that, after being taken to Colac Hospital, her son was initially diagnosed as having pneumonia. He was not swabbed for the H1N1 virus until the following day, after an intensive care bed was found at Maroondah Hospital in Melbourne, and the results were only returned two days after his death.

Victoria’s acting chief health officer, Rosemary Lester, said Mr Splatt, whom she refused to identify, deteriorated so quickly he was unable to be treated with the anti-viral drug Tamiflu.

She said, incorrectly, that he had presented at Colac Hospital last Friday with a “flu-like illness” and that, like the West Australian man who last week became the nation’s first H1N1 fatality, he had a range of underlying medical conditions.

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