Scotland's swine-flu death toll reaches 46

THREE more swine flu patients have died, taking the total number of deaths in Scotland linked to the virus to 46.

An adult from the Lothians, who had no other health conditions, was one of the victims.

And an elderly person and another younger adult, both from Lanarkshire, also died. Both these patients had other health problems.

Health secretary Nicola Sturgeon said the families and friends of those who had died had her "deepest sympathies".

The deaths were announced as figures showed an estimated 21,100 Scottish patients had contracted swine flu in the past week, 1 per cent fewer than in the previous week.

The number of people consulting their GP for flu-like illnesses increased slightly to 119.9 per 100,000.

And the number of community samples that tested positive for the H1N1 virus was 44 per cent, similar to last week.