Parents have been told not to panic after the death of a toddler who had been diagnosed with swine flu.

Few details about the identity of the child, who was under the age of three and from the south eastern area, have been made public.

Health Minister Michael McGimpsey sent his sympathies to the toddler’s family and has moved to try and reassure concerned parents.

It is the third swine flu-related death in Northern Ireland and comes just days after 61 new cases of the virus were confirmed — the highest weekly increase so far.

The toddler died on Tuesday and, while the exact cause of death is not yet known, the Department of Health confirmed the child had been suffering from swine flu.

The Health minister said he understood parents of young children would be worried by the tragedy.

“It is desperately sad when a child dies and my thoughts and sympathies are with the child’s family,” said Mr McGimpsey.

“I realise that parents of young children may be worried by this news. I can assure parents that medical experts from the Public Health Agency have been providing advice to GPs who may be contacted by parents whose children may have been in contact with this child.”

“Incidents of swine flu in Northern Ireland are continuing to rise and we must expect further increases in cases in the weeks ahead,” Mr McGimpsey warned.

“Swine flu remains a major public health threat but we are well prepared and have been planning

for a pandemic for some time.”

The Alliance party’s health spokesperson, Kieran McCarthy, extended his sympathy to the child’s family.

“This is extremely tragic news and I want to express my deepest sympathies to the family of the child,” he said. “My heart goes out to them at this terrible time.

“To lose a child is simply devastating and I cannot even contemplate the pain this family is feeling.”

Two people with the virus have previously died in Northern Ireland.

A baby died last month but a pre-existing heart condition was determined as the cause of death, while in August a mother of two young children who had been fighting cancer for five years also passed away.

A soldier from Co Londonderry, who was based in the south of England, also contracted the virus and died in Surrey at the end of July.

Last month a local woman suffering from severe complications linked to swine flu has been airlifted to an English hospital for “highly specialised” treatment.

IS IT SWINE FLU? TELLTALE SIGNS

Typical symptoms of swine flu are fever, cough and runny nose. These are the same for seasonal flu. But it can be difficult to distinguish from the common cold and other winter viral illnesses.

Antiviral drugs such as Tamiflu are only effective if given early so there are bound to be cases where it is given unnecessarily. But while Tamiflu is not a treatment for a cold, neither will it make it worse.

Potentially more serious is the child diagnosed with swine flu at home and given Tamiflu who actually has a more serious disease. I have heard of a new case of diabetes (the patient had a headache and abdominal pain) and of meningitis being treated initially with Tamiflu.

This is almost inevitable when there are large numbers of cases. The only advice I can give is to ask parents to remain vigilant. If their child deteriorates markedly they should seek further advice.

If your child has any of the following they should go straight to A&E or call 999:

• Severe breathing distress — indrawing of lower ribcage or breast bone, noisy breathing when calm.
• Increased breathing rate — more than 40 breaths a minute (50 breaths for the under ones).
• Lips and skin appear grey or blue.
• Breathing stops intermittently — pauses of over 20 seconds.
• Severe dehydration or shock — not drinking and sunken eyes or fontanelle (the soft spot on the head of a baby).
• Altered conscious level — strikingly agitated, irritable, having seizures, or generally floppy.