Swine flu kills Swedish politician

Swine flu, the global pandemic that continues to cause wide-spread fears, has claimed a high profile Swedish politician–bringing the total confirmed number of swine-flu related deaths in Sweden to three.

Liberal Party politician, Jan-Erik Brohede, has died of swine flu-related illnesses, local newspaper Nerikes Allehanda has reported. The 48-year-old politician was found dead at his Orebro-home in central Sweden on Saturday, October 31, 2009.

Medical officials from the Orebro county health board told the newspaper that Brohedo – who belonged to a demographic considered as a high risk for contracting the H1N1 virus – was likely killed by medical conditions resulting directly from the deadly infection.

Nerikes Allehanda reports that the Orebro county health board is now urging everybody in indentified risk-groups to get themselves immediately vaccinated against swine flu. Risk groups include pregnant women, diabetics, patients with lung and heart conditions and children below the age of two.

Mats Bjoreman, Orebro country medical advisor told the newspaper that Brohede had several risk factors that could have lead to a fatal bout of influenza, stressing that the politician had not been in contact with health authorities; and had not been vaccinated.

There have been a total of 2,126 recorded cases of swine flu infections in Sweden so far, according to official statistics released by medical authorities.