The parents of a six-year-old girl who died after contracting swine flu said today that they were satisfied with the medical treatment she had received and pleaded to be left in peace to mourn their "fun-loving baby girl".

Chloe Buckley, from West Drayton, Middlesex, died on Thursday at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington. It was reported today that she had initially received a diagnosis of tonsillitis after falling ill on Wednesday and and her family was not told that she had been suffering from swine flu until Sunday, three days after her death.

A post-mortem is being carried out to establish the exact cause of her Chloe's death, but her parents, Michael and Jacinta, said that they had no complaints about the medical care she got.

They said: “We are obviously very distressed at the loss of our fun-loving baby girl. Nothing can replace her in our lives and we would plead with you to allow us to deal with our loss in private and without further intrusion.

“We have no wish to be interviewed or deal with further enquiries. We are satisfied that the medical care Chloe received at all times was appropriate, and are disappointed with the stories that have been printed that suggest otherwise."

Meanwhile, the Health Secretary Andy Burnham sought to reassure parents worried by Chloe's death, reminding them that most children made a full recovery from the virus.

“People do need to keep it in perspective - lots of children have already had swine flu and have made a very quick recovery and, obviously, in the early stages we saw lots of school closures,” he told GMTV.

“There have been lots of children already having the condition but making a very quick and full recovery. We do have to keep it in perspective.”

Mr Burnham added that Britain was at the “front of the queue” for supplies of vaccine and would start to receive the first from next month.

“We have made very good plans in this country for this eventuality, for being in this situation, and Britain is at the front of the queue in the world for vaccine. We could not be in a better position," he said.

“So as soon as stocks are made, the very first vaccines will come to this country. We expect to get the first next month.

The deaths of Chloe and Dr Michael Day, a Bedfordshire GP, took the number of UK deaths linked to swine flu to 17.

Spanish tragedy

An infant born as his mother was dying of swine flu has died after a tragic mistake in a Spanish hospital.

Reports said that a young nurse with no experience in neonatal care fed the premature baby's milk directly into an intraveinous drip rather than into a tube through its nose.

The error occurred at Madrid's Gregorio Maranon Hospital, the same hospital that sent the boy's Moroccan mother home twice in June when she sought treatment for fever and respiratory trouble, before it finally diagnosed swine flu.

The infant boy, Rayan, was delivered June 29 - on his mother’s 20th birthday. The woman, Dalila Mimouni, who had been 28 weeks pregnant, died the following day.

Spain's main nursing union cautioned against reaching "hasty conclusions" on the case until an investigation is completed, but the boy's father is considering legal action.

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