Did ad executive Astra da Costa die from Swine Flu?

There are questions about whether advertising executive Astra Da Costa died from Swine Flu.

Her death certificate signed by pathologist Dr Hughvon des Vignes states that death was from "broncho-pneumonia, pulmonary fibrosis and a pulmonary abscess" , according a report in the Trinidad Guardian, which cited a close friend of Da Costa.

Sources close to the Da Costa family told the paper Da Costa admitted herself to the Westshore Hospital in Cocorite on September 27 after she returned from a Rotary trip to St Lucia.

The paper quoted Da Costa's business partner, Alfred Aguiton, as saying doctors informed the family on Wednesday that epidemiology reports confirmed that she was infected with the H1N1 virus that causes Swine flu.

The paper said he did not wish to comment on the nine-day delay between the admission to the private hospital and the diagnosis or whether an earlier diagnosis would have helped in the case. "The doctors would be the best ones to indicate the role that the virus may have played in Astra’s decline," the paper quoted him as saying.

The paper said an employee at the private hospital said authorities there followed the health ministry's Swine flu guideline of transferring critically ill patients to a public hospital. But it said an official at the health ministry said there is no such policy.