A new UK study has found that almost 9 out of 10 sick patients calling up the swine flu hotline have been diagnosed wrongly.

Merely three out of 30 patients said later tests had actually found them positive for the H1N1 virus, while five people were suffering from other life-threatening illnesses - one person had Malaria, three had Meningitis and another had a serious heart problem - which had been missed.

The study conducted by Royal Liverpool University Hospital revealed that almost half the people had taken anti-viral drug Tamiflu after contacting the National Pandemic Flu Service.

Researchers called for better training to the call handlers. They also stressed on the improvement of the computer program used to diagnose swine flu.

"Some of the patients could have died because they had conditions such as malaria," the News of the World quoted Dr Mike Beadsworth, lead researcher, as saying.

The expert added: "The Government should not scrap the hotline but it needs to be reassessed."