A man in the northern city of Groningen has become the first patient infected by a mutant strain of the swine flu virus to die in the Netherlands.

Harald Wychgel, spokesman for the RIVM told news agency AFP that there has been a ‘minor change in the virus to make it resistant to Tamiflu,’ which is the main treatment for flu.
‘He died not because the virus was resistant, but because he was seriously ill and caught the Mexican [swine] flu,’ Wychgel is reported as saying.
According to AFP this is the fifth fatal case of mutated A(H1N1) flu in Europe, after two in France and two in Norway.
In total 42 people have died as a result of the H1N1 virus in Holland according to the public health institute RIVM. However health officials say the number of deaths caused by swine flu and hospital admittances for those with the virus is now decreasing.
Some 72% of those eligible for an injection against swine flu took part in the national vaccination campaign against the virus at the end of November according to the regional public health organisation GGD.