Rome, 30 October (AKI) - At least 11 people have died in Italy from the A(H1N1) virus, commonly known as swine flu, Italian media reported on Friday. Six of the deaths have taken place between Thursday and Friday in the southern region of Campania, and the northern regions of Emilia-Romagna and Lombardy.

In almost all of the cases, the patients were already battling other infections and thus had a weak immune system.

Late on Thursday, a 74 year-old woman in the town of Cernusco sul Naviglio in northern region of Lombardy died of pneumonia, however, she tested positive for the virus. The woman is Lombardy's first swine flu victim.

Earlier this week a Nigerian man resident in Italy also died in the city of Veneto. He died of complications arising from tuberculosis and also tested positive for swine flu.

The swine flu vaccine will be available from 15 November, for an estimated 24 million Italians considered to be most at risk, including the young and the elderly, the Italian government announced earlier this month.

Last month, Italy's first reported swine flu-related fatality was in the southern city of Naples. Since then, at least 10 other deaths related to swine flu have been reported elsewhere in the country.

Health experts expect swine flu to peak in Italy between December and January, with an estimated 1.5 to 3 million cases.

On 17 October, the United Nations World Health Organisation said that worldwide there have been more than 414,000 laboratory confirmed cases of swine flu and nearly 5,000 deaths reported to WHO.

However, WHO also said that "many countries have stopped counting individual cases, particularly of the milder illness."