| Pages:
1
2 |
tattuna
Junior Nomad
Posts: 61
Registered: 1-29-2008
Location: In a van, down by the river
Member Is Offline
|
|
Respiratory disease linked to Mexico???
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
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6742
Registered: 7-4-2004
Location: Punta Chivato
Member Is Offline
|
|
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.
|
|
|
rpleger
Super Nomad
Posts: 1087
Registered: 3-12-2005
Location: H. Mulegé, BCS
Member Is Offline
Mood: Was good.
|
|
Non smokers do whether they know it or not....
Richard on the Hill
*ABROAD*, adj. At war with savages and idiots. To be a Frenchman abroad is to
be miserable; to be an American abroad is to make others miserable.
-- Ambrose Bierce, _The Enlarged Devil\'s Dictionary_
|
|
|
cantinflas
Junior Nomad
Posts: 75
Registered: 2-4-2009
Member Is Offline
|
|
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
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9274
Registered: 12-15-2008
Location: Disneyland Adjacent and anywhere in Baja
Member Is Offline
|
|
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.
|
|
|
Dave
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6005
Registered: 11-5-2002
Member Is Offline
|
|
Microbes
| 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. 
|
|
|
Mango
Senior Nomad
Posts: 685
Registered: 4-11-2006
Location: Alta California &/or Mexicali
Member Is Offline
Mood: Bajatastic
|
|
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? 
|
|
|
Bajahowodd
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9274
Registered: 12-15-2008
Location: Disneyland Adjacent and anywhere in Baja
Member Is Offline
|
|
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
Banned
Posts: 5240
Registered: 1-28-2007
Location: Rosarito Beach
Member Is Offline
Mood: Luminescent Waves at Rosarito Beach
|
|
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]
\"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing\"
1961- JFK to Canadian parliament (Edmund Burke)
|
|
|
tjBill
Senior Nomad
Posts: 516
Registered: 10-6-2007
Location: Tijuana
Member Is Offline
|
|
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
Senior Nomad
Posts: 516
Registered: 10-6-2007
Location: Tijuana
Member Is Offline
|
|
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
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4411
Registered: 7-2-2006
Member Is Offline
|
|
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.
|
|
|
desertcpl
Super Nomad
Posts: 2396
Registered: 10-26-2008
Location: yuma,az
Member Is Offline
|
|
on MSNBC
just posted today
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30386163/
|
|
|
MitchMan
Super Nomad
Posts: 1856
Registered: 3-9-2009
Member Is Offline
|
|
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
Nomad
Posts: 492
Registered: 12-17-2004
Member Is Offline
|
|
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
Super Nomad
Posts: 1923
Registered: 8-26-2003
Location: Not far from the Pacific
Member Is Offline
|
|
Here's an updated Bloomberg report.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=aWVM...
\"Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible.\" -- Frank Zappa
|
|
|
Dave
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6005
Registered: 11-5-2002
Member Is Offline
|
|
Irresponsible behavior
| 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
Elite Nomad
Posts: 7641
Registered: 3-12-2006
Location: on the bayou
Member Is Offline
Mood: undecided
|
|
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. Crying "Wolf" pops into mind. 
|
|
|
Dave
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6005
Registered: 11-5-2002
Member Is Offline
|
|
Turn out the lights
| 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. Crying "Wolf" pops into mind. |
You thought publicity about drug violence was bad?
Real or not, this will be 10x's worse.
|
|
|
redmesa
Senior Nomad
Posts: 580
Registered: 3-12-2008
Location: Van Isle and Bahia Asuncion
Member Is Offline
|
|
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.
|
|
|
| Pages:
1
2 |
![[*]](images/xmbforum/default_icon.gif){kind=icon}
