Hyderabad, Jan 23 (IANS): Swine flu claimed one more life in Telangana, taking the toll to five this month, an official said.

Lakshman, 31, of Nagarkurnool district died at the government-run Gandhi Hospital here on Monday.

With this, the death toll has gone up to 11 since August 2016.

All five deaths this month were reported from Gandhi Hospital, the state's nodal centre for swine flu.

Officials attributed the rise in swine flu cases to cold weather.

According to officials, a total of 3,122 samples were tested from August 1, 2016 to January 20. Of these, 165 were found positive.

On January 20 alone, 42 cases were tested and seven were found positive.

The health department has advised people to approach the hospital at the first symptoms of swine flu like high fever, sneezing, cough and body ache.

It asked hospitals to isolate people having symptoms of swine flu and send their samples to the Institute of Preventive Medicine here.