Flu Shots - To Do List

By Bronson Pettitt The News

Mexico’s Health Secretariat (SSA) said Monday there have been nearly half as many AH1N1 flu-related deaths so far this year as there were during 2013, but the government said it was not issuing a health alert. Of the 468 AH1N1 cases reported so far in 2014, 30 people had died as of Saturday, compared to 1,008 cases and 69 deaths in all of 2013, the secretariat said. The states that have reported the highest number of cases are San Luis Potosí, Jalisco, Sonora and Querétaro. Mexico City Health Secretary Armando Ahued said Monday three people have died due to AH1N1 in the capital. Despite the sharp rise in flu cases reported, he called on the population to remain calm. The virus was first observed in Mexico in 2009, and caused a pandemic, with more than 70,000 cases and 1,300 deaths in Mexico in 2009 and 2010. “There are no alerts, and there is no epidemic; the scenario is totally different now,” Ahued said. Ahued recommended extra precautions as more cold fronts are expected, and to seek help as soon as flu symptoms appear, adding that flu vaccinations were being applied in Metrobús and Metro stations, as well as in health centers and hospitals. The Health Secretariat said Friday it had administered 16.8 million flu vaccinations since 2009, or 66.5 percent of the total dosis it has acquired. Alejandro Macías, the influenza spokesperson from the Felipe Calderón administration, said on Twitter that everyone should be vaccinated. “This year, influenza hit hard and by surprise. We should all be vaccinated,” he tweeted. wrote: