Antibiotics would have saved a mother-of-two’s life if she had not been wrongly diagnosed as a swine flu sufferer, an inquest was told.

The family of 42-year-old Sheila Vaux gasped and her husband, Andrew, put his head in his hands as a Bradford inquest heard how she would have been admitted to hospital and treated with broad-spectrum antibiotics if it had not been for the swine flu pandemic and guidelines surrounding it.

Mrs Vaux had been a healthy, fit young woman before she was struck down with flu-like symptoms in October that turned out to be a bacterial type of pneumonia.

Mrs Vaux, who was a PA at Bradford Council and lived in Westhill, Cullingworth, with her husband and young sons, had been on Tamiflu after taking advice from the NHS website but later her condition deteriorated and she started having chest pains, difficulty breathing and was coughing up blood.

Mr Vaux grew so worried he rang NHS Direct and an out-of-hours doctor but eventually decided not to wait and dialled 999 for an ambulance.

The inquest heard the paramedics were told by their control centre they were going to a Category A swine flu patient.

Paramedic David Bamford said he had telephoned Airedale Hospital to get “clarification” about his concerns after carrying out a number of tests — her heartbeat and breathing rate were abnormally high.

Mr Vaux, who questioned Mr Bamford in the witness box, said: “I suggest you did not use the word concern. If you had used the word concern to me about my wife I would have fought tooth and nail for you to take her to hospital.”

Mr Bamford said Mrs Vaux had no underlying medical history, was presenting flu-like symptoms, was “switched on” answering questions and had not taken any paracetamol for nine hours. She had also not been keen to go to a Bradford hospital and had said if he had to ring a hospital would he ring Airedale.

Dr Kanchana Devinuwara, who took Mr Bamford’s call at the Airedale A&E, said: “There was nothing to concern me at the time so I said it would be okay for her to stay at home.”

When asked by assistant deputy corner Paul Marks if a chest X-ray would have shown up the true problem, she said yes and she confirmed antibiotics could have been used and she would have lived.

Mr Marks also questioned the clinical assistant director of the Yorkshire Ambulance Service Roger Gregson, asking him if Government guidelines on swine flu gave him concern that some diagnosis might be missed.

Mr Marks said it was the swine flu pandemic that led those responsible for her care to assume her illness was swine flu and if it had not been for that she would have been taken to hospital.

His narrative verdict read: “Sheila Mary Vaux suffered a febrile illness in October 2009 which was thought to be due to influenza. Her condition deteriorated and she died at home. The cause of death was bilateral streptococcal bronchopneumonia.

“If she had received antibiotic therapy it is probable she would have survived.”