Srinagar, March 14 (IANS): With one more H1N1 infected patient dying here overnight, the death toll in swine flu infection has risen to 17 in Jammu and Kashmir.

"A 42-year-old woman died last night (Friday). She was admitted a week ago with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and had tested positive for H1N1 influenza", a doctor at the super-specialty Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) told IANS in summer capital Srinagar on Saturday.

Three more patients tested positive for the virus in the Valley on Friday taking the number of swine flu patients to 377, the doctor said.

Forty people have tested positive for H1N1 virus in the Jammu region so far where four deaths have occurred due to the infection.

While the death toll in the state due to swine flu has risen to 17, the number of people infected by the disease has crossed 400.

However, Dr. Pervez Koul, Head of Department (HoD) Medicine and pulmonary diseases SKIMS told IANS the number of patients testing positive for H1N1 virus had dropped considerably in recent days.

"The number of patients reporting with respiratory ailments at the hospital and those coming for H1N1 tests has considerably dropped during the recent days.

"The test positivity in samples sent has also dropped indicating perhaps that the preponderance of the virus is gradually falling in the Valley", he said.