Latest figures have shown that swine flu has killed nearly 4,000 people in the US.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which has devised a new counting method, said the new system is based on more precise figures provided by 10 states. It shows that 540 children are among the dead and reviews the previous estimated death toll from the H1N1 virus in the US of 672. About 22 million Americans have contracted the virus in six months with some 98,000 hospitalised.