Swine flu death toll rises to nine

Three swine flu deaths in Auckland and the Waikato have lifted this year's tally of influenza fatalities to nine.

However, the rate is slower than last year where at the same time there had been 15 deaths with 11 people in intensive care.

A total of 16 people died of swine flu last year.

There are currently 14 people in intensive care units with confirmed H1N1 virus.

The Auckland District Health Board confirmed a 29-year-old man with an "underlying medical condition" died on Monday.

Waitemata District Health Boards said a 57-year-old man who also had health complications died last week.

Waikato DHB said a 53-year-old man with no known underlying health conditions died this week.

A spokeswoman declined to say what day the man died on.

Ministry of Health deputy director of public health Dr Darren Hunt said there has been a "notable increase" in the number of pre-school children being seen by GPs in the last week.

A media release said Healthline fielded over 2000 calls from people with influenza inquiries last week.

Hunt said people with flu-like symptoms should seek medical advice early.

There have been 454 hospitalisations from swine flu this year with 67 admitted to intensive care units.

- © Fairfax NZ News