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NEWS > HEALTH > MEXICAN SWINE FLU CASES UP AS SCREENING INCREASES
MEXICAN SWINE FLU CASES UP AS SCREENING INCREASES
January 28 2012
Mexico City, Mexico – The pigs are walking once again. Almost three years removed from the near-pandemic of H1N1, the so-called Swine Flu, Mexico is again reeling with an onslaught of the virus, reporting steadily increasing numbers of infections across the country.
Mexico was of course the source of the initial outbreak of the disease back in March 2009 before it started to spread across North America and to limited locales around the world. Now after a long absence it appears that the potential deadly disease is making a comeback, as indicated by the increase in number of reported cases.
While the exact numbers are not available due largely to bad bookkeeping, federal and state officials have assured the public that the increase is still well within the range for normal flu season, and it will stay that way as long as they can keep the reporting down. Thus far, nine have died from contracting the disease this season, which is one of the easiest ways to die in Mexico.
“We have seen an increase in recent weeks of reporting of the H1N1 virus but we do not believe this is a part of a larger trend. We have asked that all hospitals report cases of this disease accurately and we have, as a result of abuses, been forced to throw out many false diagnoses,” said a spokesperson for the Mexican Health 
Authority. “We do not simply want people saying this is the disease people are dying from because it as a part of trend. We want doctors to do their work and make sure that these numbers are kept down one way or the other. We do not want a repeat of the panic that occurred last time around. We want the numbers to be stable.”
Mexico is reporting 573 cases thus far into 2012, a sharp increase over the 870 that were reported in all of 2011.
It’s not clear if the disease is starting to stage a comeback, or simply that reporting has increased as a kind of virus unto itself.
“This increase is very much a concern and it should be something that worries everyone. The last thing the world needs right now is a massive flu pandemic with thousands or even millions of people dying. I mean that isn’t something the world needs at any time really, but particularly now with all the other troubles we are having,” said Scrape TV Health analyst Rebecca Phelps. “Hopefully these numbers are accurate, which I know sounds strange, but the last thing we would want is for the numbers to be underreported. That could cause much bigger issues for everyone.”
The Mexican government has requested that health officials stop reporting daily numbers for public safety reasons.
“Reporting is really the issue for Mexico right now. If they report too much, people will get upset, but if they report too little millions of people will die. It’s really damned if you do, damned if you don’t type of situation, but luckily they have some experience with it,” continued Phelps. “They will likely make mistakes but they are better equipped to handle the reporting of this disease than they were three years ago and that will make a big difference in how things go down, or up, increase or decrease.”
No cases were reported today, as per the government’s request.
Lauren Hebert, Health Correspondent
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