The Ministry Of Health says that swine flu has claimed 17 lives till now in this winter season but the number of people being infected appears to be reducing.

The number of calls received by Healthline related to influenza came back to normal although the overall number of calls increased following Saturday’s earthquake in Christchurch, said Mark Jacobs, ministry director of public health.

Until noon on Monday a total of 648 confirmed cases of H1N1, including 11 people still in intensive care were recorded. Out of 17 deaths, 13 have been confirmed to be caused by swine flu.

Jacobs said, “It's important to seek medical advice early, particularly for people with underlying medical conditions or who are severely overweight or pregnant as they are at greater risk of a more severe illness.”

The symptoms of the widespread influenza include high fever, headache, cough, sore throat, tiredness and an overall body ache.

Researcher Robert Webster warned, “H5N1 can kill 61 percent of humans infected, but it doesn't know how to spread from human to human. But don't trust it because it could acquire that capacity. So we must stay vigilant.”