Swine flu deaths rise to 7

The number of deaths involving swine flu has risen to seven, after a Taranaki man who died earlier this week was confirmed as having the illness.

The man had an underlying medical condition, but his family had asked that no details about him be released to the public, a Ministry of Health spokesman told NZPA.

The number of confirmed cases of swine flu was unchanged at Friday's total of 1555, because the system that collated the figures was down for scheduled maintenance, he said.

Swine flu has become New Zealand's dominant flu strain, accounting for about 75 per cent of confirmed flu cases in the week ending today, the Dominion Post reported.

Swine flu has rapidly replaced seasonal influenza, and was putting health services under particular pressure in Wellington, Taupo and Rotorua.

The illness was more serious than it had sometimes been portrayed, with the country's death rate likely to be about the same or higher than the roughly 400 deaths from seasonal flu each year, Massey University mathematical biologist Professor Mick Roberts said.

- NZPA