A schoolgirl who died after contracting swine flu suffered from a rare disease that left her unable to ward off infections, an inquest heard today.

Sameerah Ahmad, 6, died at Birmingham Children's Hospital on Friday evening. She was the third patient with the virus to die in Britain and the first child.

An inquest at Birmingham Coroner's Court this morning heard that Sameerah, who lived in Edgbaston with her parents, was born with a rare, life-threatening disease called microvillus inclusion disease, which left her liable to contracting infections.

She was also suffering from a condition which weakened her bone marrow and her immune system, making it difficult for her body to fight illness, although no clear diagnosis has been made.

Sameerah’s father, Imran Ahmad, was told by Birmingham coroner, Aiden Cotter, that a post-mortem examination would have to be carried out.

When asked if he wanted this, Mr Ahmad said: “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.”

Sameerah was a pupil at Mayfield, a specialist school for children with learning difficulties. The school was closed today and Paul Jenkins, the head teacher, said: “Our deepest sympathies are with Sameerah’s family at this time. She was a wonderful, happy child and her death is a great loss to the school community."

The West Midlands has been declared a hotspot for the disease, with 2,104 confirmed cases so far, more than a third of the UK’s total and more than two-fifths of all the cases in England.

Yesterday 1,604 cases new cases were confirmed in England since Friday, taking the country’s total to 4,968 and the UK’s total so far to 5,937.

A 73-year-old man from the Inverclyde area died at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley, Scotland, on Saturday night. The unnamed man, who had serious underlying health conditions, had been treated in the hospital’s intensive care unit for the past 15 days.

The first UK death, Jacqui Fleming, 38, who had just given birth prematurely, died two weeks ago at the same hospital. She also had other health problems.

Last week health officials said the West Midlands, along with London which has 1,564 confirmed cases so far, would adopt a policy of outbreak management, with swine flu cases being clinically diagnosed rather than being confirmed by laboratory results.

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