It's believed the woman contracted the virus while overseas. (ABC News: Cate Grant, file photo)

• Audio: Dr Roscoe Taylor says pregnant women are at a higher risk of contracting swine flu. (ABC News)
• Map: Hobart 7000

A pregnant woman with swine flu is fighting for her life in the Royal Hobart Hospital.

The woman visiting Tasmania from overseas tested positive to the H1N1 virus on Wednesday night and is in a critical condition.

It is believed she may have contracted the virus while overseas or during her travels to the state.

The Director of Public Health Doctor Roscoe Taylor says vaccination is the best line of defence against the virus which can have serious consequences.

"The case just demonstrates for the public that people can still have a very serious infection from the swine flu and if they haven't been vaccinated if they are pregnant or if they are at risk with a chronic infection they should still seek out the vaccine," she said.

Tags: swine-influenza, tas, hobart-7000

First posted 2 hours 7 minutes ago

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H1N1 is back! Well, to be fair, it hasn't really been away. Rest assured that there will be further widespread panic!

Hopefully the woman in Tassie fully recovers.

Sylvestor

THE swine flu pandemic has become "unstoppable" and all nations will need access to vaccines, a WHO official said today.

Britain, Thailand and the Philippines all reported deaths today, while Saudi Arabia shut an international school after 20 students were diagnosed with the A(H1N1) virus.

As the death toll increased, the World Health Organisation official said a swine flu vaccine should be available as early as September and all countries would need to be able to protect themselves.
A group of vaccination experts concluded after a recent meeting that "the H1N1 pandemic is unstoppable and therefore all countries would need to have access to vaccines,'' said Marie-Paul Kieny, WHO director on vaccine research.

Health workers should be at the top of the list for vaccination since they will be in high demand as people continue to fall sick, she said.

Countries would be free to decide on their national priorities, but other groups should include pregnant women and anyone over six months old who has chronic health problems, the WHO official said.

Its all just a fuss over nothing? Yeh? WHO knows (pardon the pun!). Today we learn that a toddler and a Doctor from the UK both succumbed to the illness. This is tragic and sad. The issue, however, both had no underlying illness or susceptibility that made them at risk patients.

If A(H1N1) - aka Swine Flu continues to spread, it is likely to evolve. All influenza viruses adapt to the environment in which they exist. This one will be no different. Will antiviral drugs like Tamiflu continue to provide protection? Will this disease develop a more deadly strain?

More and more people are dying. Its not too worrying knowing that more people die every minute from much more mundane things (lookout for that bus!!!!!!). But how long before it grows to much larger numbers? Will the spread of the A(H1N1) see the spread of much more deadly variants just as swift?

We shall wait and see!

Sylvestor
www.twitter.com/Sylvestor

AN emergency medical response crew is rushing to the isolated WA indigenous community that was home to the first swine flu sufferer to die in Australia.

The team will land at Kiwirrkurra, more than 600km west of Alice Springs in the Gibson Desert, as doctors and health services warn of the extra risk posed to indigenous communities by the virus.

Public health experts are worried that swine flu is likely to hit Aboriginal communities hard, because many people suffer health conditions that make them vulnerable to the virus.

There has been a lot of criticism here in Australia about the over-reaction to the Swine Flu pandemic. Although the influenza strain may well be "mild" in comparison to other strains of the flu, and indeed other conditions and diseases, it still poses a great risk.

It is new! There is little natural immunity. And, as has been seen here in Australia, poses a real health threat to some members of our community (the young, elderly, infirmed, respiratory illness sufferers etc).

An outbreak of H1N1 A in a remote indigenous community would be disastrous. How it got there, when, why - it really doesn't matter now. Protecting the people of that community and ensuring it doesn't spread is vital. I don't think we have seen the last death.

Whether or not you believe in this global pandemic, or its seriousness, is not the point now. I certainly hope that it doesn't get worse, particularly in these remote areas.

Sylvestor
www.twitter.com/Sylvestor