Four more cases of swine flu confirmed in Massachusetts

By Stephen Smith, Globe Staff

Four additional cases of swine flu have been confirmed in Massachusetts residents, state health officials said this afternoon.

Public Health Commissioner John Auerbach said at a news conference that he was happy to report that the patients in all four of the new cases are recovering. But he cautioned that officials "do expect that, in the coming days, there will be additional cases."

Two recuperating Lowell brothers had been the only confirmed swine flu victims in Massachusetts.

Boston health officials also announced this afternoon that as many as nine Harvard Dental School students may be infected with the disease.

Auerbach said the four new confirmed cases were not connected to the Harvard Dental School cases or suspected cases that had been reported at Amherst College.

So far, Auerbach said, there have been 148 confirmed cases in 16 US states.