A WOMAN with swine flu has died in Swindon’s Great Western Hospital.

The woman, who is thought to be from Malmesbury and is in her 50s, had recently returned from the US.

Wiltshire Primary Care Trust released a statement saying tests would be carried out to establish the exact cause of death and whether she had any other conditions apart from swine flu.

Sue Rowley, director of nursing and midwifery at the Great Western Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said: “I speak for all trust staff, including those who provided direct care for the patient, when I say that the thoughts of all of us are with the family at this time.”

Wiltshire director of public health Maggie Rae said: “We offer our sincere condolences to the family at this sad time and will remain in touch with them through their local family doctor to keep them informed and to provide all the support we can.”

Practice manager Sandra Walklett of Tinkers Lane Surgery in Wootton Bassett said: “We have to really wait to see what the outcome of the tests are.

“It is a growing problem but locally we are taking a pragmatic and sensible approach.

“People are taking advice from us and NHS websites. We have had fewer calls than we expected and we are briefing our staff on where to direct people for information.”

A total of 29 people have now died in the UK after contracting swine flu, the Government announced yesterday.

David Renard, Swindon Council lead member for health said: “Clearly it is a tragic situation. I suppose in a sense it was only a matter of time before this happened. Now, nevertheless, it is still a shock. All the plans are in place. I do not see anybody panicking. People are concerned but they are dealing with it in a rational way.”

The Wiltshire PCT announcement of the GWH death comes as the number of schools under swine flu alert in Swindon reaches nearly 40.

Swindon Council released the names of four more schools with suspected cases of swine flu yesterday, including Commonweal School, Lethbridge Primary School, Little Scholars Nursery and Isambard School.

Others schools include: Ferndale Primary School, Goddard Park Primary School, Swindon Academy, Churchfields School and Haydon Wick Primary School.

Mum-of-four Kirsty Jones, 40, whose children attend Goddard Park Primary, said: “Obviously I am terrified that my children might get ill. I would love to keep them at home until it is gone – but it is not going to go away.

“You can’t wrap them in cotton wool but I wish I could.”

Peter Mallinson, chairman of the council’s health, overview and scrutiny committee, said: “It seems to be hitting the young rather than the old. I plan on having my scrutiny officer write to the hospital trust tomorrow to make sure that they have the proper procedures in place, but I am sure they do. We will see if we need to bring the next health scrutiny meeting forward. If we are not satisfied, we will have to. We are there to look after the interests of the people of Swindon.”

The Health Protection Agency estimates there were 55,000 new cases of swine flu in England in the last week.