Father of first victim alone in quarantine

The quarantined father of the country's first swine flu victim says his life has been turned upside down since his son's death last week.

Under strict doctor's orders to take the prescription drug Tamiflu, the man, whose son Zachary Wilson died last Sunday from swine flu, has had to grieve on his own at his small Hamilton flat.

And despite the likelihood that doctors will today clear him of having swine flu himself, his neighbours had treated him "like a leper".

"I'm stuck here by myself and it's very hard with no family around me," said the man, who did not want to be named. "There are days when I sit on the couch and bloody burst into tears for no reason."

He said the 19-year-old asthmatic had antibiotics for what was believed to be a "chest cold" but seemed just mildly ill when he came over to watch rugby last weekend.

He had enjoyed a big meal and saw the British and Irish Lions lose to South Africa in the second test before falling asleep on the couch in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The man said he got up the next morning and did some chores around the house before he tried to rouse his son. But Zachary never woke up.

"It got a little bit late so I thought I'd better wake him ... I touched him and that was it," he said.

Waikato Medical Officer of Health Dr Felicity Dumble said Zachary's flu-like illness progressed rapidly over three days.

She said it was difficult for most people to determine the difference between what was a bad cold and full-blown influenza.

"It can progress very quickly, they start out quite similarly but then what can happen with influenza is you can get secondary complications such as pneumonia."

Dr Dumble said people with mild to moderate influenza should keep fluid intake up and rest at home. And they should immediately seek medical advice if signs of complications arise.

"Those could be tightness in the stomach, severe chest pains, if you start coughing up blood or green phlegm or if you have a temperature which can't be reduced with paracetamol."

Another danger sign is that if somebody is becoming drowsy or difficult to wake, confused or if a child is becoming irritable that's also another sign that they need to seek medical attention."

Dr Dumble said younger people were possibly more susceptible to swine flu than older people possibly because the latter group had been exposed to a previous influenza epidemic that has given them some "residual cross protection".

"People who are younger won't have that."