Two flu A/H1N1 patients in the Philippines have died, the Philippine health authorities announced on Monday, which brought the country's death toll to three.

Aside from the flu, the two patients -- a 19-year-old boy and a 74-year-old man -- had also suffered asthma and emphysema respectively and the cause of their death can not be determined immediately, the on-line edition of the Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted a senior health official as saying.

Arnel Rivera, head of the Department of Health operation center for A/H1N1 influenza, said more than 2,600 people in the Philippines tested positive for the A/H1N1 virus but 2,500 of them had recovered.

The Philippines reported its first flu A/H1N1-related death in June. The victim was a female employee of the Congress, who had also other health problems, the authorities said.

(Xinhua News Agency July 14, 2009)