Hyderabad: As many as 21 people lost their lives due to swine flu in Telangana this month, the state government said on Thursday.

The samples of 1,398 people have been tested for the H1N1 virus till yesterday and 509 turned out to be positive, a bulletin on swine flu issued by the government said.

101 samples were tested yesterday, of which 42 were found to be H1N1 positive, it added.

Between January 1 and 28, as many as 1,398 samples were tested, out of which 509 were found to be positive and the number of deaths because of swine flu and other complications reached 21, it said.

The total number of deaths during this season (from December) had been 26 till yesterday.

"As seen from the statistics from 2009 onwards, the virus has weakened and its severity has come down. In the year 2009 to 2014, the fatality rate (no of deaths out of positive cases) was in the range of seven per cent to ten per cent.

This year, from January 1 onwards till 28, it is four per cent," the bulletin said.

Urging people not to panic due to swine flu, the health authorities have advised them to take precautionary measures like reporting to hospital on first symptoms of the virus including high fever, sneezing, cough and body pains, besides taking other measures like avoiding going to crowded places.