| | |  Health & Beauty | May 2009 
Swine-Flu Deaths Reach 56 in Mexico
 EFE
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| | Schoolchildren wear surgical masks as they attend class at an elementary school in Mexico City May 11, 2009. Millions of Mexican elementary and junior high school students began returning to classes on Monday morning for the first time since April 23 when the government closed schools to prevent infection with the new strain of H1N1 flu formerly known as swine flu. (Reuters/Jorge Dan) | |
Mexico City – The number of deaths in Mexico caused by the swine-flu epidemic rose to 56, while patients suffering from the disease increased from 1,578 to 2,003, according to the latest report Monday from the country’s health secretary.
Jose Angel Cordova told a press conference that figures continue to show a “progressive decrease” in the number of contagions.
Deaths represent 2.7 percent of all confirmed cases of AH1N1 virus infections in the country, while fatalities continue to occur more among women, who account for nearly 59 percent of the total.
The figures also show that more than 82.1 percent of deaths took place among people between the ages of 20 and 54.
The last two deaths in Mexico occurred on May 6, and figures show that the capital remains the city with the most people taken ill with the virus.
The first fatality is still believed to have been a census taker in the southern state of Oaxaca, who died on April 13.
“The epidemic continues to decline nationwide,” the minister said.
Cordova warned that health authorities have now detected cases of contagion in 29 out of the country’s 31 states.
He said his department has given particular attention to tourist cities like Los Cabos, Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cancun, “where cases have been very sporadic.”
“Unfortunately, every year around 9,500 people die of pneumonia in Mexico, and many of those pneumonias are associated with seasonal influenza. Now some of these (pneumonias) are associated with the AH1N1 flu virus,” Cordova said.
Some 20 million Mexican students at the elementary and preschool levels return to class Monday after a 15-day vacation imposed by the flu epidemic, Education Secretary Alonso Lujambio said.
But seven of Mexico’s 31 states – Chiapas, Zacatecas, Jalisco, Hidalgo, Guerrero, San Luis Potosi and Michoacan – will not fully re-open their schools until next Monday.
The governors of those states took the decision to postpone classes because of “the uncertainty about whether the number of proven flu cases will increase,” Lujambio said.
Last Friday all high-school and university students returned to class.
The decision was taken by Mexico’s health authorities upon seeing the drop in the number of contagions and deaths caused by the AH1N1 virus, which proved to be less lethal and contagious than was at first believed.
Lujambio said that students are going back to school taking “significant care and protection measures,” and if everyone adheres to them it will guarantee “a safe and sound return.”
He recalled that any student or Mexican citizen with “suspicious” symptoms will by treated by the country’s health system and will be given the necessary antiviral medicines.
“This illness is curable and we have enough medicine to give to whoever needs it,” he said.
According to the official, more than 90 percent of the 200,000 primary schools in Mexico have complied with the new health rules, such keeping watch at school entrances, offering students antibacterial gel and detecting students with flu symptoms, among other measures. |
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