'If people come to know that a swine flu patient has died in a particular hospital, then they simply avoid going to that hospital for treatment of other diseases also. People are scared and we want to put an end to the scare factor,' said Perumal.

With five new swine flu deaths being reported from Karnataka, the death toll due to the H1N1 virus in the state has reached 40, a health official said here Saturday.

Of the 40 flu related deaths, 33 have been reported from Bangalore.

Eighteen more people tested positive of H1N1 virus Friday, taking the number of confirmed cases in the state to 554. All the 18 cases are from Bangalore.