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Why is Swine Flu A/H1N1 so Deadly in Mexico?
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by Tina Kells | April 28, 2009 at 09:36 am
4762 views | 18 Recommendations | 9 comments
The Swine Flu A/H1N1 virus has crossed boarders and is officially a pandemic yet so far, it has only been fatal in Mexico. Why is Swine Flu A/H1N1 so deadly in Mexico but seemingly treatable in other infected regions? Is there a predominant demographic among the Mexican Swine Flu fatalities? Why is this flu virus the cause of so much concern? Could something have been done to stop the spread?
In Mexico, many patients have experienced rapidly progressive pneumonia, respiratory failure requiring mechanical ventilation and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Therefore, the experience of these two countries has been markedly different to date. Getting better information to explain these differences is a high priority for the ongoing investigation.
The way that Swine Flu A/H1N1 has manifested in Mexico has been very different than the way it appears to be playing out in other parts of the world. The most obvious reason for the discrepancy is awareness; health officials and medical professionals in other parts of the world know what they are looking for and how to fight it. In Mexico, doctors and health officials did not have this luxury.
Doctors in Mexico were slow to realize that they had a disease of epidemic proportions on their hands and have been heavily criticized by citizens for failing to protect the Mexican people as well as populations in other nations. In fact, Mexico remains under fire for continuing to offer poor health care to its citizens now that Swine Flu has been identified.
Two weeks after the first known swine flu death, Mexico still hasn't given medicine to the families of the dead. It hasn't determined where the outbreak began or how it spread. And while the government urges anyone who feels sick to go to hospitals, feverish people complain ambulance workers are scared to pick them up.
A portrait is emerging of a slow and confused response by Mexico to the gathering swine flu epidemic. And that could mean the world is flying blind into a global health storm.
Despite an annual budget of more than $5 billion, Mexico's health secretary said Monday that his agency hasn't had the resources to visit the families of the dead. That means doctors haven't begun treatment for the population most exposed to swine flu, and most apt to spread it.
Mexico was slow to react to stop the spread but questions remain about the more than 150 people who have died so far. Who are they? Were they young or old? Is there any one age group most at risk of dying from Swine Flu A/H1N1? Why is this new strain of Swine Flu of so much concern?
Flu viruses mutate all the time in what is known as an antigenic drift. The antigenic drift is a slow mutation of one flu virus; think of it as the virus's evolutionary struggle to survive in an increasingly resistant population. However, Swine Flu A/H1N1 developed through what is known as an antigenic drift, when 2 or more viruses combine to for a new strain. The antigenic nature of Swine Flu A/H1N1 is the reason for the elevated concern.
However, there's another kind of change to viruses that concerns scientists even more: antigenic shift. During this process at least two different strains of a flu virus combine to form a new subtype. This can happen when two strains — say swine flu and predominantly human influenza — infect the same cell, replicate and assemble a brand new virus.
Here's a helpful graphic which shows how this process can occur.
The current virus in circulation has elements of human, swine, and avian viruses normally found in Europe or Asia, and appears to have originated as a result of an antigenic shift. It is for this reason — we are dealing with an entirely new and unknown virus — that has elevated the level of concern for this outbreak.
Fear and concern in Mexico and other nations with identified Swine Flu cases is high. Every year the flu kills nearly 500,000 people worldwide. The majority of flu deaths strike the very young or very old, and people with pre-existing conditions. In Mexico however, many of the deaths have been younger, stronger people who normal recover from traditional flu viruses. This has escalated fears.
"I'm nervous of the people who aren't wearing masks. Maybe they will suddenly sneeze or cough," she said.
Some health experts fear the disease could become a pandemic, partly because it has killed young, healthy adults in Mexico.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued emergency authorization for the use of two of the most common anti-viral drugs, Tamiflu and Relenza. The authorization allows the distribution of the drugs by a broader range of health care workers and loosens age limits for their use. The median age of all the U.S. cases is 16 years.
In Mexico City, however, there is a shortage of such medication. And the government ran out of surgical masks after handing them out to one out of every five residents.
The deadly nature of the Swine Flu outbreak in Mexico can be blamed on several factors:
- The slow response of health officials in recognizing an epidemic threat
- Limited availability of antiviral medications
- Lower levels of health care, specifically among the poor
- Highly dense population clusters
- Proximity to livestock in day-to-day life
- Poor sanitation in some areas
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patgarcia
La Paz, Mexico
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London, United Kingdom
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (9)
at 11:05 on April 28th, 2009
Maybe it is that the disease is so widespread that it has reached those most likely to succumb.
We will need a while for that here.
5 billion dollars and their system not even second-rate?
This has nothing to do with the US or the Treaty of Guadalupe or open borders.
at 13:55 on April 29th, 2009
We are an american family with 3 healthy teens living in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico where there has not been any illness so far. I do not know whether to get on a plane to the states, or stay put. My decision would be based on the reason that the virus has been deadly here in Mexico, to mostly young people. Is it environment? The virus itself? The lack of care in Mexico City? Is Vallarta immune because of sunny, humid weather? We have good hospitals and doctors here, but probably not as good as in the states. What should we do?
Renee
at 13:46 on April 30th, 2009
stay put and you will be fine your county is going to recover very soon.
at 10:12 on May 3rd, 2009
I would not blame this on the Mexican Government, who were quick to identify the problem. In fact they were a bit to quick to assume the 90 or so deaths were of the H1N1 virus (they were not) there has only been a handful of conformed victims of this virus.
And lets not forget, in 1976 there was a hure "swine flu" outbreak here in the United States.
at 16:14 on May 6th, 2009
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090505174547.htm
this a possable answer, along with genetics
at 12:19 on May 15th, 2009
The reason is simply because swine are racists against Mexicans, and want them all to die.
It all started when a pig was thrown into a Mexican family's home through the window. The pig proceeded to murder the innocent family, and eat all of their food...mm tacos..and once the deed had been done, the pig moved on to another family...dun dun dun!
at 06:17 on June 9th, 2009
The virus has been engineered to be fatal only to mexicans. Its been done before, to other races, with other lab-crated viruses.
at 18:42 on July 11th, 2009
actually, i've had medical attention in both U.S. and Mexico. And honestly, the medical attention is by far, better in Mexico. At least to my experience.
at 18:48 on July 11th, 2009
The swine flu is just another hoax created by the governments to deviate peoples attention on real issues. It's all mass control techniques the governments and the media have been using on us for decades.
Some people in the stock market and the farmaceuticals are getting filthy rich thanks to this lie, while thousands of people in mexico are losing their jobs because of the big sudden drop in tourists.