| | |  News Around the Republic of Mexico | May 2009 
More Confirmed Flu Deaths, but Officials are Optimistic
 The News
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| | A Mexican sex worker wears a surgical and a party mask before a march during Worker's Day in Mexico City May 1, 2009. The sex workers complained about the lack of clients due to the new strain of influenza A (H1N1), formerly referred to as swine flu, and Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard's efforts to restrict their working hours. (Reuters/Eliana Aponte) | |
The government said Friday it has confirmed 15 deaths and 343 infections from the H1N1 swine flu virus, up from the 12 deaths and 312 infections reported a day before. But officials said new hospital admissions for the virus are dropping, suggesting that the epidemic is coming under control.
Health Secretary José Angel Córdova said the nation's public IMSS hospitals admitted just 46 patients with severe flu symptoms on Thursday, down from 212 patients on April 20.
"These are encouraging numbers that make us think that, fortunately, the virus isn't so aggressive," Córdova said at a press conference.
Reduced public activity and quick treatment are proving effective in stopping the spread of the virus, he said.
"If treatment is given the first day [of diagnosis], the patient is practically no longer a transmitter," he said.
Of the 15 confirmed swine flu deaths, 11 were women and four were men, Córdova said. Nine were between the ages of 21 and 40. Seven victims came from Mexico City, two from the State of Mexico and one each from Oaxaca and Tlaxcala.
The government stopped reporting suspected deaths and infections earlier this week when the numbers approached 170 and 2,500, respectively. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control said in a new report on Friday it had confirmed 84 out of up to 176 deaths in Mexico blamed on the H1N1 strain.
The federal government canceled classes for all students through May 6, and has shuttered its offices and urged non-essential business to remain closed through the May 1-5 long weekend. Officials have closed night clubs, theaters, museums and archaeological sites and urged people to avoid crowds. D.F. authorities ordered restaurants to shut all eat-in service.
On Friday, Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard said the emergency campaign was bringing results.
"Individuals and families have been taking these measures very seriously and as a result we have had timely and early detection of cases of respiratory illnesses that could be of this type. This has led us to a situation where the numbers are getting better every day," he said.
"I'm not saying we should let our guard down ... I'm telling you so you know where we stand."
The city's health secretary said no new suspected swine flu deaths were reported in the capital in the past 24 hours, after three were reported Wednesday and one on Thursday.
Also Friday, city officials said they had put down a riot at the Reclusorio Norte prison by inmates upset over new flu-related restrictions on visitors.
On Thursday, city prison authorities announced that there had been no suspected swine flu cases reported among the capital's 28,664-member inmate population.
(AP, Bloomberg News and Reuters contributed to this report) |
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