A 21-YEAR-OLD barman with no underlying health problems has died after contracting the swine flu virus.

John Walsh was admitted to hospital on Christmas Day with the H1N1 strain of the virus after attending a walkin clinic.

He died on Sunday at The University Hospital of Hartlepool, suffering from double pneumonia.

Mr Walsh, from Stockton, was sedated the day after Boxing Day, when he was moved from The University Hospital of North Tees, in Stockton, to Hartlepool, but he never regained consciousness.

His sister, Rebecca Inns, said: “He was poorly with the flu for about a week.

“When he went to see a doctor on Christmas Day he was sent straight to the hospital where they immediately started treating him for swine flu.

“He had double pneumonia and swine flu.

“None of our family has been ill with it and up to then, John was a normal healthy young man. He was a big lad, but he had no underlying health issues at all.”

Mrs Inns, who has two young children, said she had pleaded with her brother to go to the doctor on Christmas Day – but he had not wanted to cause a fuss.

“I told him he didn’t look well at all, but he was reluctant to go,” she said.

He was so weak that friends and family visiting Mr Walsh in hospital had to wear masks to avoid passing any further infections on to him.

Mrs Inns said: “His heart was beating really fast on the Sunday he died – then it just slowed right down and stopped. He wasn’t responding to any of the treatment.”

Mr Walsh, who also worked as a forklift truck operator for his father, Glenn Walsh, 45, leaves behind his mother Julie, 49.

Mr Walsh worked at the Garrick pub, in Yarm Lane, Stockton, and his sister described the job as “his life”.

He was well-known for his sense of humour and friends said he could often be found in the DJ box. “John was all for work,” said Mrs Inns. “He had worked there for about five years and was so happy and bubbly.”

Friend Katy Hutchcraft, 24, who also works at the Garrick, said: “John was generous and very, very funny.

“He was so outgoing and everyone who met him seemed to love him.

“I saw him before he was admitted to the hospital and he said: ‘I don’t feel well, Katy.’ “He was a big lad, but he was crying and he said he had pains in his stomach, but he said he would be fine.

“When he was in hospital the number of visitors he had was amazing. The ward was full from morning to night.

“We thought he would pull through, but it was obviously worse than we thought.

“He just looked like he was asleep until the last day when he looked very, very poorly.”

North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust confirmed the death yesterday A spokeswoman was unable to give information on whether anyone else had died, or was in critical care, in the Stockton or Hartlepool hospitals.

The only information the Government is releasing on flu deaths each week is in the Health Protection Agency’s report, which does not give regional figures, so the picture across the North-East is unknown.

The last figures to be released, on New Year’s Eve, showed that levels of seasonal flu were continuing to increase, with swine flu being the predominant strain.

The agency said that nationally, 39 people had died of flu this season, 36 of whom had the H1N1 swine flu strain.

Twenty-three of those were in an at-risk group. The latest figures are due out later this week.

At-risk groups, including pregnant women, elderly people and those with heart, lung, liver or renal problems, or diabetes, are being urged to get the seasonal flu jab.

The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health said it was concerned about the rising number of flu cases and how it was affecting younger children.

Flu has been striking the under-65s, with relatively high rates in youngsters under 15.

The Government has so far resisted calls for a national vaccination programme of young children, as was carried out last year for swine flu.

Vaccine shortage report

AT least one North-East GP practice is turning away patients who want to be vaccinated against seasonal flu.

A spokeswoman for the practice, who has asked not to be identified, said the County Durham surgery ran out of the seasonal flu vaccine and had not been able to secure fresh deliveries.

She said: “We calculated how many doses we would need for our flu clinics in October and November, but because of the recent surge in demand, it is all gone. I rang our supplier last week and they had run out.”

Before the supplies ran out, the practice gave priority to pregnant women.

In the absence of this year’s seasonal flu vaccine, a number of patients agreed to be immunised with swine flu vaccine left over from last year.

The practice does not know when it will receive more supplies.

An NHS spokesman said supplies were not believed to be a problem in other GP practices in the area.