Australia's A/H1N1 flu death toll reached 45 on Thursday following the death of a 77 year-old Tasmanian woman.

Tasmania Health department spokesman Gershu Paul said a woman, suffering from a number of chronic conditions, became the state's second person to die with A/H1N1 flu.

Paul said that although influenza was not the primary cause of the woman's death on Wednesday, it may have been a contributing factor.

Tasmanians meanwhile are bracing themselves for a spike in A/H1N1 flu infections over the next four to eight weeks.

(Xinhua News Agency July 23, 2009)