Re: Mexico - Case Tracking: 263 Dead
Re: Mexico - Case Tracking: 263 Dead
http://www.elmanana.com.mx/notas.asp?id=146475
Slow to report deaths by virusDomingo, October 18, 2009
In Nuevo Leon, for example, the state Health Ministry confirmed yesterday that 14 people died between April 23 and October 3 died of influenza A H1N1
MEXICO CITY .- Although it has been confirmed killed 263 people because of the influenza A H1N1, the Ministry of Health estimates that number could reach 300, that due to the lateness of the states to send files to the Federation of the deceased.
"There is a state where the Secretary had told me that was like 20 (dead) and figures that we had like 10, what happens is that it sends the files later," Cordova said after inaugurating the Health Week a sports club in Mexico City.
"Right now we have 263 registered, but there are 300 likely to be confirmed within days.
"That we lag, as 10% or 15% (of the dead with files) that are being tested," he said.
In Nuevo Leon, for example, the state Health Ministry confirmed yesterday that 14 people died between April 23 and October 3 died of influenza A H1N1.
Jesus Zacarias Villarreal, state health secretary said these deaths belong to a group of 59 deaths whose cause of death initially was reported as severe pneumonia, but that several issues had not been able to confirm the presence of the H1N1 virus.
In 25 cases that were pending to confirm the cause of death, the virus was discarded and nine cases are still pending in the study.
Another 11 cases were positive for influenza A H1N1, had been informed by the unit above.
This brings the total number of deaths in the state for influenza A H1N1 stands at 31, said the state secretary.
"Some of them had not even happened when confirmatory testing, there are institutions that need to get their evidence to Mexico and there is a delay of up to 3 weeks," the state official confirmed.
"In a very good number of them autopsies and tissue processing is slow," said Villarreal to explain the reasons for the delay.
And also take positives
Furthermore, after inaugurating the Health Week in a sports club in Mexico City, Federal Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova, mentioned that in the positive cases there was a lag of up to 20 days in the acknowledgment, which also attributed to the lack of protocol compliance by the states.
In this regard, he cautioned that they were not accorded more laboratory reagents to entities not to send their evidence quickly or not conforming to the protocol for sampling only 30 patients suspected of arriving in the health units assigned.
"There's no evidence to be making right and left, nor rapid tests. If the patient has symptoms of influenza and gravity data or risk, (be) always treat it," he said.
The official noted the need for physicians to be alert for symptoms of their patients and if they have risk factors such as pregnancy, chronic illness or are under 5 years, they should prescribe some antiviral and not expect to confirm the diagnosis through a laboratory test.
"There's no evidence to be making right and left, nor rapid tests. If the patient has symptoms of influenza and gravity data or risk, (be) always treat" he said.
Provide more pressure
The infrastructure and hospital staff in the country recorded strong pressure during the second wave of the epidemic of influenza A H1N1, said Victor Manuel S?nchez Nava, president of the Mexican Association of Critical Care Medicine and Intensive Care.
According to international recommendations, he said, in emergencies that exceed the intensive care systems must be enabled intensive care beds in other hospital.
"You have to decide which patients are potentially recoverable, which patients require immediate intubation and hospital beds are enabled like intensive care.
"Obviously it is enabled for the area of contingency should be insulated completely from the rest of the hospital, for which some circuits are put positive pressure to keep the air coming out of there.
Conform beds, ventilators and monitors to meet these people, "he said in an interview.
He warned that if these measures work needs to be adequately trained personnel to meet critical patients, they also must guarantee the protection of these workers.
Recipe Cordova doctors
If the patient has symptoms of influenza, the head of the Ministry of Health, Jose Angel Cordova doctors recommend the following considerations:
- Provide immediate treatment: pregnant women, children under 5 years old, morbidly obese, chronically ill patients with respiratory problems.
- Do not prescribe antibiotics: no assurance that it is a bacterial infection.
- In patients with risk factors: considering oseltamivir or sanamivir.
- If no risk factors or doubt, without antibiotics and symptomatic consider him the next day.
- If the next day the symptoms are increased and is likely to be influenza. Take oximetry.
- If you have low blood oxygen: intern
- Isolate patients with respiratory problems.
- If the patient has respiratory symptoms are not influenza, especially since no fever: refer you to the emergency room.
- There respiratory symptoms up 37-9 with: giving treatment if there are risk factors or track.
- If you have toxemia: outpatient.
- Support the diagnosis in hospitalized patients.
(Margarita Vega / Agencia Reforma)