MILWAUKEE - HEALTH officials in Wisconsin, California, Illinois and Utah reported deaths from H1N1 flu on Thursday, and said all four patients had previous health problems that made them more vulnerable.

State officials did not release details, but the victims were an adult from Milwaukee; a 74-year-old man from Gurnee, Illinois; a 9-year-old girl from Concord, California, who had a bacterial infection before she died May 29; and a patient in Utah who also was under 18.

Officials with the federal Centres for Disease Control said on Thursday that there have been 11,468 probable and confirmed H1N1 flu cases in the US, including 770 hospitalisations and 19 deaths. -- AP