Laura Toribio, Jaime Hernandez and Lilian Contreras
Yesterday, only in the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (IMSS) ten people died from SARS presumably caused by seasonal influenza virus, and six deaths were recorded in the Federal District.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health reported that in the present season (October to March) increased three times the number of probable and confirmed cases of influenza, compared with the two previous periods.
The report of the IMSS, in power Excélsior, reveals that on Friday, April 17 until 17:30 pm yesterday, only in units of the institute in the country, 28 people lost their lives for this cause.
The focus of the deaths in the capital of the Republic, where there are 17 deaths.
However, there is confusion among the authorities on the exact number of deaths. The Health Ministry has recorded 20 deaths since March 18 until yesterday morning.
Of these, 13 occurred as the SSA in the Federal District, four in San Luis Potosi, Baja California in two, and one in Oaxaca. Five of the deaths in Mexico City were between Saturday and Sunday.
Therefore, the federal agency has launched a national alert for a close surveillance of hospitalizations and deaths that could be associated with this disease. This is a "negative reporting", which means that even hospitals that have had no cases to report.
Undersecretary for Prevention and Health Promotion, Mauricio Hernandez Avila, acknowledged that "unfortunately, the suffering will grow because there are serious patients who are tube and mortality in them is high."
The official admitted that it is still uncertain what course to take the virus, or if already reached its maximum level of involvement.
"We still do not know what course you are taking this revival peak. We know more or less in one or two weeks, and we have to report to the entire network of hospitals that miss to walk, "he said.
However, the Ministry of Health as the IMSS insisted that people should not worry because there is no epidemic, and there is only a warning by the unprecedented phenomenon of cases of influenza are being presented during the off season. And both institutions ensured that health staff, we will have a high risk of infection, be fully protected.
-We do not want to cause panic, but we can not hide reality. Is there no epidemic or epidemic? he inquired.
- No, no epidemic! There is no epidemic of influenza! replied the undersecretary.
Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova Villalobos, acknowledged that the federal government does not currently has enough vaccine in an emergency, but said that if necessary the purchase to prevent the evil from spreading.
He asked the Mexicans do not be alarmed by the outbreaks of influenza that have emerged in the country. "The call to people is that there is no panic, one must be careful if you have a respiratory problem, stay home and see your doctor so they can be cared for," asked the Secretary of Health.
Faced with the possibility that this seasonal outbreak spreads faster in the country and killed more people, he clarified that this is not an epidemic, for it would affect more than five million inhabitants of the national population.
"A pandemic is when it extends to most of the population, we are talking about a five to ten by the way of the population," he said.
However, he acknowledged that it is necessary to be in an epidemiological alert, so this unit will seek to obtain about 400 thousand vaccinations for health care, to prevent an outbreak among doctors and nurses to meet patients without any problem. It also specified that it applied throughout the winter 19 million vaccines, it denied that it is a failure in the vaccination campaign.
"It is an extension of the period of seasonal influenza, which normally ends in February, but we are seeing cases in March and April and most likely is related to an epidemic of United States and also generated some deaths and is the tail of the epidemic which is affecting us, "he said.
In an interview, Dr. James Zuno Echeverria, director of the IMSS medical benefits, said the outbreak of influenza "is not something that leads to a significant widespread alarm."
"We simply need some more of that normally should take these times of year, but no alarm," he said.
The official reported that the epidemiological surveillance system that implemented the special weekend in the IMSS to record probable influenza cases yielded more than 500 throughout the country over the past five days.
At a press conference, Deputy Secretary Mauricio Hernandez said that unlike previous years, the peaks where winter is in November and December, is now having an excess of cases during this April.
"Some cases are severe, that have caused deaths and hospitalizations. These are young adults, mainly because it is the group that did not vaccinate, "he explained.
This is because the people most vulnerable to contracting this disease are children under 36 months and older than 60 years.
On the origin of the outbreak, Hernandez said that the epidemic comes from United States, where it is already out. "This virus that comes down the stock, and the climate of why now we have this peak in April, we do not have clear, we do not know what the explanation, if the characteristics of moisture, dryness of the characteristics that are in the environment, "he said.
hat-tip AndyM
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