H1N1 Virus Abates in Mexico – Ajijic, Lake Chapala
H1N1 Virus Abates in Mexico
This morning I went about my usual chores of paying the phone bill, paying health plan fees, buying dog food and ,as usual, groceries.
When I came home I turned on CNN and was delighted to hear that, according to authorities, the H1N1 Virus (Swine Flu) was lessening in Mexico City. It is their belief that the worst is over and the number of confirmed cases has leveled off and is, in fact, on the decline. They went on to say that all businesses are able to reopen on Wednesday of this week.
Some schools will remain closed until inspections are complete but are expected to reopen next Monday.
This was music to my ears. Although the H1N1 Virus did not reach Ajijic or Guadalajara many steps were taken in an abundance of caution. Schools, restaurants, bars and all unessential businesses were closed over the long holiday week-end and all events to mark the holiday were canceled.
They are still concerned about the spread of this virus in other parts of the world and it still seems to be on the rise in the US.
There are some major differences with the H1N1 Virus as opposed to the regular seasonal flu. The most obvious one is the age of those infected being among healthy 24-40 year olds (mostly women) as opposed to the very young and older persons whose immune systems may be weaker.
The CDC (Center for Disease Control) and the WHO (World Health Organization) are still searching for answers as to what caused this particular mutant virus and there are still many unanswered questions. They are still very diligent in getting these questions answered.
Symptoms seem to be less severe with the H1N1 Virus and there have been no deaths reported outside of Mexico and those were only in the early days of the outbreak The one death in the US was a child from Mexico who had gone to the US for treatment.
There has been a lot of financial damage caused by this flu outbreak especially in Mexico City. Here workers in some cases could not work and their income stopped. Few have savings and so feeding their families became a huge problem for them.
I must admit even with the various long term consequences of the H1N! Virus here in Mexico I am very impressed with how the Mexican authorities handled the situation.
They worked very closely with the CDC and WHO following all guidelines in an effort to learn as much as they could as quickly as possible and how to contain the virus and protect the Mexican people.