Teen swine flu victim's muscles 'melted' at Monash Medical Centre

AUSTRALIAN medical experts have warned of a rare but alarming complication of swine flu after a teenage boy suffered "muscle melting" so severe his urine turned almost black.

The unnamed 16-year-old suffered fever and other flu symptoms for three days before his urine went dark and intense pain meant he could no longer stand or move his arms and legs, The Australian reports.

He was admitted to Melbourne's Monash Medical Centre, where tests showed he was suffering a condition called rhabdomyolysis - a condition caused when muscles are damaged and dissolve, flooding the bloodstream with their by-products.

Shortly after admission one blood test for creatine kinase - an enzyme produced when muscles break down - returned a reading of 164,149 international units per litre (IU/L), more than 700 times above a normal reading of less than 230 IU/L.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,26248719-421,00.html