BajaNomad

Respiratory disease linked to Mexico???

tattuna - 4-23-2009 at 03:43 PM

Anyone have any info on this? I'm sure it's nothing major, but I'm going to La Paz in June with a Canadian lady friend of mine and she's worried because Canada has issued a travel alert. I've heard nothing of it here in the states (I live in Los Angeles).

Anyone else heard of this??? Anyone have any words of wisdom I can offer to my favorite sancha to make her feel more comfortable?

Here's what a google search turned up for me...


Canada Issues Alert on Severe Respiratory Disease in Mexico
Recombinomics Commentary 02:22
April 23, 2009
The Public Health Agency of Canada has told quarantine services to be on alert for travellers returning from Mexico after a number of severe respiratory illnesses (SRI) were reported in some regions of the country.

PHAC, in an April 20 report, said Mexican officials informed the Canadian health agency that the "case-fatality rate was relatively high" and that most cases involved healthy adults between the ages of 25 and 44. A number of health-care workers were also affected.

Although no cause has been confirmed, some samples were positive for influenza A and B.

The above comments on an alert issued by Canada offer some insight into the situation in Mexico. The reports out of Mexico are decidedly mixed. Some reports describe an increase in influenza cases which is attributed to a late spike in influenza B, which when combined with influenza A, gives an abnormally high number of cases this late in the season. Other reports discuss revaccinating at risk groups with the current trivalent vaccine.

Samples have been sent to Canada for a comprehensive analysis.

The increased influenza-like illness and fatalities was announced as the CDC issued an MMWR dispatch on H1N1 swine flu. Two cases have been confirmed in children (9F and 10M) and family members had mild symptoms but were not tested. The precise location of the clusters in southern California has not been released, but one cluster is in San Diego Country, while the other is 100 miles away in Imperial County (see updated map). Additional suspect cases in Imperial County have been noted and it is likely that these cases are near the border with Mexico. Some media reports also note that some contacts have not been interviewed because they were in Mexico.

It remains unclear if these two outbreaks are related. All reported cases in California have been mild, and the two confirmed cases were influenza A positive, but failed to sub-type for seasonal flu. It is unclear if sub-typing failures have led to the confusing reports out of Mexico.

More information on these cases, and results of analysis in Canada, would be useful.

Similarly, a more precise location and number of confirmed and suspect cases in the United States would be useful.

Russ - 4-23-2009 at 03:58 PM

I know this is a serious thread and my apologies in advance for my sick humor?
Smokes are a bout a 2 for 1 deal for people from the States. Can you imagine how a
Canadian would handle a 3 for 1 deal? Some may smoke their brain out. Even non smokers.:saint:

rpleger - 4-23-2009 at 04:05 PM

Non smokers do whether they know it or not....

cantinflas - 4-23-2009 at 04:22 PM

Most of the canadians I see down here are heavy smokers. Thats got to hurt along with millions of microbes not found in the frozen tundra.

Bajahowodd - 4-23-2009 at 04:30 PM

What is this supposed to mean??? First of all, the flu season in North America was extremely mild. Second, what could swine flu have to do with the so-called headline report of respiratory disease? There have been two cases reported. Third, "case fatality rates relatively high" ??? This just tells me that there are people in the Canadian Health Department who have much too little to do.

Microbes

Dave - 4-23-2009 at 04:58 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by cantinflas
Thats got to hurt along with millions of microbes not found in the frozen tundra.


I though those were Canadians. :smug:

Mango - 4-23-2009 at 05:42 PM

The first time I ever went into the Valley of Mexico/Mexico City, I was on a first class bus. At the front of the bus was a, "No Smoking" sign. Next to this the bus driver and a passenger sitting on the front steps of the bus were smoking away.

We drove on, as the smoke from a pile of tires on fire drifted across the roadway and into the A/C. Piles of plastic bottles and trash smoldered away and added to the thick soup called air.

The fact that the bus driver smoking was hardly noticeable with the rest of the smog that had been pouring in, burning my throat, and making my eyes water. In fact, his air may have been cleaner.. at least he had a filter!

And your worried about the flu? :lol:

Bajahowodd - 4-23-2009 at 11:22 PM

Ever fly into Mexico City? It's a pity, a mix between an enormous population, a high elevation and a valley in which it resides, but on descent, the ozone smell quickly and strongly pervades the cabin, sort of like it did, landing in LA in the 70s. And just for fun, the only smoking areas in the Mexico City airport are the restaurants, where people are trynig to eat, and have their children with them.

Woooosh - 4-24-2009 at 09:02 AM

Maybe they are referring to the new "swine Flu" outbreak. Mexico City has closed its pubilc schools and some people have even died.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.424c5b4c93103272...

[Edited on 4-24-2009 by Woooosh]

tjBill - 4-24-2009 at 09:05 AM

I was in Mexico City three years ago. All the cars and buses had emission controls. Locals told me pollutions was down 75% and the World Health Organization had named it a model city for pollution control.

tjBill - 4-24-2009 at 09:17 AM

Today's New York Times says there is flu outbreak in the Mexico City area and, as a result, the schools have been temporarily closed.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/25/world/americas/25mexico.ht...

gnukid - 4-24-2009 at 09:22 AM

There is a reported flu outbreak which is not atypical and there have been deaths, two are reported to have died of severe flu in Baja in TJ or Ensenada and as many as 20 have died throughout Mexico. Something like 200 severe cases are reported.

I have seen the flu come and it has hit hard but it seems to be passing. I don't think that its anything different than those flu ilnesses which pass through Canada or the US but in Mexico where as similar numbers are reported. I myself caught it too and it wasn't fun but it did pass and I survived. whew.

on MSNBC

desertcpl - 4-24-2009 at 10:20 AM

just posted today

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30386163/

MitchMan - 4-24-2009 at 10:23 AM

I visited La Paz regularly over the last year and a half. My wife and I have, more often than not, come back from the visits with severe coughing maladies. We don't know, for sure, but we feel that it is not just happenstance but some kind of bug that we are catching repeatedly.

Any body out their with a similar experience?

Side point. Our doctors here in the US have prescribed Cipro to clear up the bad cough contracted while in La Paz. You want to be careful about taking Cipro because it is a very, very potent antibiotic. Since most of us here in the USA have been over prescribed antibiotics for the past couple of decades, we are becoming immune to other common antibiotics. So, by refraining from using Cipro, one can hopefully preserve Cipro's effectiveness for a very serious illness that may not have many other effective treatments in the future.

Riom - 4-24-2009 at 10:23 AM

It was the lead story on the CBC website last night, but no specific mention of Baja California:
http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2009/04/23/respiratory-illnes...

Follow up, with almost no new information apart from the closures in Mexico City:
http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2009/04/24/health-flu-mexico0...

From the symptoms many are describing in the comments (and the cure - antibiotics) it sounds similar to the severe bug that was going around San Felipe over the past few months (but, a lot of flu-like illnesses sound similar, this can easily turn into cybercondria).

DanO - 4-24-2009 at 11:11 AM

Here's an updated Bloomberg report.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=aWVM...

Irresponsible behavior

Dave - 4-24-2009 at 11:41 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by MitchMan
Our doctors here in the US have prescribed Cipro to clear up the bad cough contracted while in La Paz.


Like using a tank to break down a door.

Fire your doctor.

Cypress - 4-24-2009 at 11:54 AM

This Mexican Flu is getting a lot of "air time". May be just a slow news day, but they're really playing it up. Jeez! You'd think Ebola was on the loose.:o Crying "Wolf" pops into mind. :)

Turn out the lights

Dave - 4-24-2009 at 12:29 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Cypress
This Mexican Flu is getting a lot of "air time". May be just a slow news day, but they're really playing it up. Jeez! You'd think Ebola was on the loose.:o Crying "Wolf" pops into mind. :)


You thought publicity about drug violence was bad?

Real or not, this will be 10x's worse.

redmesa - 4-24-2009 at 12:49 PM

There were many cases of the flu while we were in BAja. The most cases seemed to hit between February and April...my neighbour and friend works at the clinic and she said it was bad this year. The men working at our house and my husband were very ill for several weeks and some had relapses. I do not know if this was swine flu but it was serious and intense.

MitchMan - 4-24-2009 at 04:51 PM

Redmesa,
WHERE in baja (specifically what town or city) are you speaking of?