Justin Chircop, the fourth person to die of swine flu in Malta, was healthy before contracting the virus, contrary to what was previously thought.

This means Mr Chircop was the first Maltese swine flu fatality not to have been in the "vulnerable group" because the other three all had underlying conditions that could aggravate the illness.

The health authorities yesterday issued a statement seemingly contradicting the one circulated by the Department of Information on Monday that had said a 32-year-old man died of "complications from the A H1N1 virus".

The DOI had added that the victim suffered from a condition that could exacerbate chest infections.

But yesterday, an autopsy proved that Mr Chircop, a popular radio deejay, had no other illnesses and had succumbed to a severe attack of swine flu.

Healthcare director general Ray Busuttil said this was "no mix-up" but simply that the initial working diagnosis was proven not to be the case through a post-mortem examination.

"This does not mean the virus has become more dangerous. We have known all along that swine flu death can occur both in individuals with underlying medical conditions and those who were previously healthy."

Internationally, between 20 and 50 per cent of swine flu victims were perfectly healthy before they died. He said Malta was no different to any country but this simply proved that swine flu was "no silly flu problem".

"It is a mild illness to be taken seriously," Dr Busuttil said.

Because of patient-confidentiality he did not explain what led the authorities to initially believe the victim had another condition.

More tests are being carried out.