A father has died from swine flu after repeatedly being turned away by medical staff, his pregnant wife claimed today.

Tharmjit Singh Josen who had previously been fighting fit, fell ill in December and died just four weeks later in hospital.  

Today Tharmjit Singh Josen’s widow Kash said he was not prioritised by NHS staff because he was not in an ‘at risk’ category.

His wife said she battled to get him effective treatment to no avail.

Tharmjit Singh Josen, died after battling swine flu for four weeks. His wife Kash said she battled to get him effective treatment

Mrs Josen said: ‘I still haven’t come to terms with what has happened yet, the whole family is in shock including our two-year-old daughter Iena.’

Mr Josen started to complain of a sore throat, shivers and a temperature at his home in Bedford on December 17.

He went to the GP who prescribed over the counter medicines and antibiotics which were not effective.

Mrs Josen said: ‘After a few days Tharmjit was getting even worse, I called NHS Direct but my call was put in a queue for so long that I couldn’t get through.

‘We decided to go to Bedford Hospital, he was struggling to walk but forced himself and couldn’t speak for coughing.  

‘He said he was afraid of going to sleep because he feared he wouldn’t wake up. He didn’t wake up again after that.’

‘Whenwe arrived he wanted to wait outside because he was coughing, I went inand was told that because he was not in a high risk category and could walk we should go to the NHS walk-in centre in Putnoe.’

When the couple arrived at the walk-in centre Mr Josen was diagnosed with a severe chest infection and he was prescribed double the dosage of his previous antibiotics.

Mrs Josen said: ‘When he started taking the new dose of antibiotics Tharmjit started to suffer severe diarrhoea.This could be a sympton of swine flu and it went on for days. He wasn’tsleeping and was very weak and confused.

‘I rang my GP again and told them the whole story but nobody said swine flu even though it was getting really bad.

‘Hewas so fit and healthy. All that pushing himself to eat well and go to the gym, it just seems like such a waste of time now.’

The next day Mrs Josen took Tharmjit to Bedford Hospital again. This time he was refered to an acute assessment unit (AAU) with suspected pneumonia.

She added: ‘At that point I felt a bit better that he was being looked after but I didn’t understand why it had taken so long.

‘Me and my family were also vaccinated against swine flu straight away.

‘I am pregnant, I don’t understand why nobody helped us before it got to this stage.’

Distraugt: Kash, who is pregnant, with her two-year-old daughter Iena

She added: ‘At one point I was suffering from morning sickness, had a two-year-old crying and her father lying on the sofa seriously ill wearing his outside coat because he was so cold.

‘I didn’t know who to hug first and it was very traumatic. Our family didn’t deserve this.’

Mr Josen was treated at Bedford Hospital for five days before being transferred to St Thomas Hopsital, in London, to use a specialist ECMO machine which oxygenates the blood and prevents it from becoming poisoned.

Mrs Josen said: ‘We were told that there are only 12 of these machines in the country.it was unsure whether Tharmjit would make the trip but he managed it.

‘When we arrived and I saw the other people using the machines they were all fit and healthy people with dependants. None were in the high risk categories and they were all seriously ill.

‘The virus is so aggressive and I really think that everyone should be able to be vaccinated against swine flu because it is killing fit and healthy people.

‘They put Tharmjit to sleep so that his body could better fight the infection. He said he was afraid of going to sleep because he feared he wouldn’t wake up. He didn’t wake up again after that.’

She added: ‘A doctor later said to us at St Thomas that the most effective treatments are those given within the first 48 hours, why would nobody take us seriously when we tried to get help?’

Dr Jason Reddy, deputy medical director for NHS Bedfordshire, claimed that the H1N1 virus is unique in the sense that it targets the immune systems of people who are young, fit and well.

He said: ‘The key is to ask for help if you don’t get better, or get considerably worse within three days.

‘This year seasonal flu is predominantly swine flu and that is what in this year’s vaccines which we are giving to high risk groups such as pregnant women, diabetics and those with chronic diseases.

‘If the symptoms are very severe you need to seek advice, primarily from a GP or walk-in centre.

‘For the majority of cases this is appropriate but the safety net is to advise patients to represent to their GP or A&E if symptoms persist and keep going back until you get better.’

Bedford Hospital declined to comment stating they had adhered to the guidance issued by NHS Bedfordshire.

Swine flu was first detected in Mexico and became a worldwide pandemic in 2009.

The total number of flu fatalities in the UK this winter is currently 338. Thousands more have spent time in intensive care.

More than 90 per cent of victims had swine flu. The remainder had influenza B or H2N3, the two other strains in circulation.

Comments December 12, 2010 at 12:46 pm(1) Leila says:

Hi Lisa, I think your list is very helpful. The only thing I’d add because it’s a huge red flag, is that the child is not pointing her fingers to show what she wants and likes by 12 months. this was the first milestone my child didn’t reach even though everything else at that age seemed normal on him.

December 12, 2010 at 12:56 pm(2) autism says:

Thanks so much for your comment – will add that in!

December 12, 2010 at 8:15 pm(3) C. S. Wyatt says:

I’ll have to check the notes, but apparently I didn’t laugh or smile following birth. I was diagnosed retarded at birth, in part due to my lack of responses to external stimuli. I didn’t look at people or try to mimic their expressions during first few months. just wasn’t interested, I suppose. Often, I’m still not very aware of the people around me.

December 17, 2010 at 1:02 am(4) Twyla says:

Odd that ANB did not question the use of the word “symptoms” here. this would have been a likely place for him to give his lesson on the difference between “signs” and “symptoms” in the context of diagnosis. I can only speculate that he has no problem with an article on early diagnosis, but that he would prefer to derail conversations on mitochondrial disorder and autism. although the recent study did not claim to show that vaccines cause autism, mitochondrial disorder has been pointed to as a mechanism by which vaccines can cause autism. this is a promising area of research for better understanding some adverse vaccine reactions.

Interesting to note that the reputable web sites such as:h t t p : / / w w w . webmd.com/brain/autism/autism-symptomsandh t t p : / / w w w . mayoclinic.com/health/autism/DS00348/DSECTION=symptomsandh t t p : / / w w w . cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/signs.htmlandh t t p : / / w w w . ninds.nih.gov/disorders/autism/detail_autism.htmalso use the word “Symptoms” even when describing early signs of autism, not subjective sensations reported by infants/children/adults with autism. So not sure why Lisa was taken to task, although simply stating the definitions without disparagement would have been fine.