Birmingham swine flu girl "suffered in her short life", father tells inquest
A six-year-old Birmingham girl who died after contracting swine flu had "been through a lot" in her short life, her father told an inquest today.
Sameerah Ahmad, who was born with a rare life-threatening disease, died at Birmingham's Children's Hospital on Friday evening. Tests on the little girl's body revealed she had contracted swine flu, although it is not yet known if this contributed to her death.
At the opening of the inquest into her death, Sameerah's father, Imran Ahmad, told Birmingham Coroner's Court that she had suffered during her life.
When asked if he wanted a post-mortem examination to be carried out, he replied: "Obviously I do not, because she has been through a lot already in her life. She has been through a lot, but, if it's the law, it's the law. I cannot do anything about that."
Birmingham and Solihull Coroner Aiden Cotter advised Mr Ahmad that a post-mortem examination was necessary to find out how his daughter died, although it was not strict law.
He said: "It may be that, when we have all the evidence in, we still won't know but it's important we try and find out."
The inquest was told that Sameerah, who lived with her parents in Edgbaston, Birmingham, and was a pupil at Mayfield School in Handsworth, was born with a rare genetic disorder affecting the small intestine, called microvillus inclusion disease. The illness affects the cells in the small intestine and causes severe and often life-threatening diarrhoea.
Dr Gale Pearson, a consultant at Birmingham Children's Hospital, told Birmingham Coroner's Court that the disease would have made Sameerah more liable than most to contracting infections.
When asked by Mr Cotter how many people suffered from the disorder, he said it was definitely less than one in 1,000.
Dr Pearson said doctors believed the six-year-old was also suffering from a condition affecting her bone marrow, called Pancytopenia, although no clear diagnosis had been made. He said this would have weakened her immune system, making it difficult for her body to fight infections, although no clear diagnosis had been made.
The post-mortem would be carried out today, Mr Cotter told the court, but added that the results may take some time.
He told Mr Ahmad, who was accompanied at court by another man, that the full inquest into his daughter's death may not be held until October or November. He said he hoped to be able to release Sameerah's body to her family today.
