Swine Flu Hits Mexico Again
 Associated Press
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September 27, 2009
| | A woman wears a face mask, as a precaution against swine flu, while waiting to visit her aunt who is hospitalized for swine flu-like symptoms at the National Institute of Respiratory Illnesses (INER) in Mexico City, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2009. Mexico could see up to 5 million cases of swine flu during this winter's flu season, a higher projection than officials had previously given, according to Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova. (AP/Marco Ugarte) | |
Mexico City - The next wave of swine flu has arrived, and Mexicans are bracing for an outbreak that may be larger than the one it saw last spring that became a pandemic.
Daily diagnoses reached higher levels in September than the H1N1 peak in April, with 483 new cases in just one day this month alone.
It's unlikely there will be large-scale closings of schools and stadiums, however, because health officials know the virus is benign if treated early.
"We know the situation is not as serious," said Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova. Still, 3,000 schools across Mexico were closed last week. That number has dropped to 128, Education Secretary Alonso Lujambio told senators Wednesday.
Mexico could see up to 5 million cases of swine flu during this winter's flu season, and deaths could reach 2,000, Cordova said. Some hospitals already have the same number of swine flu patients as they had in April, he said.
Officials are negotiating with laboratories to secure doses of a vaccine by October.
Mexico had 29,417 reported cases and 226 deaths as of Friday. The World Health Organization says more than 300,000 cases of H1N1 have been confirmed throughout the world, and more than 3,900 people have died from the virus.
Associated Press writer Carlos Rodriguez contributed to this report. |
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