6 deaths linked to swine flu

Photo / Herald on Sunday

Six deaths are being linked with swine flu this winter as more people call the influenza hotline, and vaccine doses are expected to run out by the end of the month.

The World Health Organisation last week announced the swine flu pandemic was over and the world had entered a post-pandemic phase, but New Zealand is still experiencing the effects of a second wave of the H1N1 virus.

The deaths of a 22-year-old Hawkes Bay man, a 44-year-old Christchurch woman, a 38-year-old Wellington man, a 51-year-old Northland man and a 48-year-old Tauranga woman have all been linked to swine flu.

The Ministry of Health is not revealing details of the sixth death.