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El calderon rebasado por la crisis
Aqui les dejo compas, esta en Ingles, pero puede ser un entretenimiento mas pa la familia mexica tratar de descifrarlo. O pa'l Rafas, a ver si se olvida un poco de "la Marcela".
Enjoy! (Disfruten!)
DISPUTE OVER MEXICO'S EARLY RESPONSE...
MEXICO CITY – A top Mexican medical officer accused the World Health Organization of responding too slowly to early signs of the swine flu scare. The world agency said it was Mexico that failed to respond to its request to alert other nations to the first hints of the outbreak.
In the U.S., President Barack Obama said Friday it was not clear swine flu was any worse than "ordinary flus" but said the government is preparing in case it comes back in a more virulent form.
"I'm optimistic that we're going to be able to manage this effectively," Obama said.
Hong Kong confirmed a case of swine flu, Asia's first, and authorities there ordered a weeklong quarantine of the hotel where the man, a 25-year-old Mexican tourist, stayed. Besides Mexico and the U.S., cases have also been confirmed in six European nations, Canada, New Zealand and Israel.
Mexico's chief epidemiologist, Dr. Miguel Angel Lezana, told The Associated Press late Thursday that his center alerted the Pan American Health Organization, a regional arm of WHO, on April 16 about an unusually late rash of flu and pneumonia cases in Mexico.
He said PAHO took at least 48 hours to notify WHO headquarters, when normally that notification occurs immediately. On April 24 — the day Canadian and U.S. labs first identified the Mexican cases as swine flu — WHO announced it was worried the outbreak could become a pandemic.
A PAHO spokesman laid out a far different set of events in an interview with The Associated Press. When Mexico first confirmed an outbreak of acute respiratory infections in the state of Veracruz on April 12, WHO headquarters was notified automatically, spokesman Daniel Epstein said in Washington.
The next day, PAHO asked Mexico for permission to alert other countries to the outbreak, which local media had blamed for three deaths, but Mexico did not reply, Epstein said.
Mexican permission would have enabled PAHO to publish news of the deaths to a disease alert site seen by other countries, Epstein said.
It was five days later, on April 18, that Mexico gave PAHO its fullest accounting of the unusually late flu cases and some cases of severe pneumonia, the spokesman said. That same day, U.S. authorities let other nations know about two swine flu cases in California.
"PAHO and WHO acted as soon as we had reliable information about unusual outbreaks in order to work together to control the situation," Epstein said. "This was made even more urgent by the notification of cases in California."
Lezana called for an investigation into WHO's handling of the events. Earlier this week, Mexican health authorities came under criticism, particularly from frustrated citizens, for a slow and bumbling early response to the outbreak.
In the United States, the confirmed swine flu case count stood at 132. State lab operators say there are more cases than the confirmed number because they are not testing all suspected cases, focusing on finding new outbreak hot spots and limiting the flu's spread.
Obama said U.S. efforts were focused on identifying people who have the flu, getting medical help to the right places and providing clear advice to state and local officials and the public.
The president also said the U.S. government is working to produce a vaccine down the road, developing clear guidelines for school closings and trying to ensure businesses cooperate with workers who run out of sick leave.
He pointed out that regular seasonal flus kill about 36,000 people in the United States in an average year and send 200 to the hospital.
In Mexico, the outbreak's epicenter, new cases and the death rate were leveling off, the country's top medical officer said. Health authorities there have confirmed 343 swine flu cases and 15 deaths from the virus.
No new deaths from swine flu were reported overnight in the Mexican capital for the first time since the emergency was declared a week ago, said Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard.
"This isn't to say we are lowering our guard or we think we no longer have problems," Ebrard said. "But we're moving in the right direction."
As recently as Wednesday, Mexico's health secretary said there 168 suspected swine flu deaths in the country and almost 2,500 suspected cases. Mexican officials have stopped updating that number and say those totals may have been inflated.
"The fact that we have a stabilization in the daily numbers, even a drop, makes us optimistic," Mexican Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova said. "Because what we'd expect is geometric or exponential growth. And that hasn't been the situation."
The only confirmed swine flu death outside Mexico was a Mexican toddler who died in a Texas hospital Monday.
The United States is buying 13 million courses of anti-flu drugs to replenish its stockpile and sending 400,000 courses to Mexico, which said earlier that it had a stockpile of 1 million courses. U.S. health officials say a swine flu vaccine could not be ready until fall at the earliest.
The Red Cross says it is readying an army of 60 million volunteers who could be deployed around the world to help slow the virus' spread.
Cordova said Mexicans with flu symptoms are now seeking medical attention quickly, and suspected swine flu cases are getting treatment even before the virus is confirmed, preventing deaths and limiting the virus' spread.
"If the treatment is given the first day, the patient is practically not contagious," Cordova said.
Cordova said outreach efforts to families of confirmed cases are turning up relatively few other cases.
Mexico shut down all but essential government services and private businesses Friday, the start of a five-day shutdown that includes a holiday weekend. Schools are also closed through Tuesday.
Mexico City's notoriously clogged avenues were clear, crime was down and the smog dropped to levels normally seen only on holidays. Mexico is using the shutdown to determine whether to extend or ease emergency measures.
Lezana told the AP that while Mexico waited for WHO to help, Mexican authorities tried to identify the outbreak and stop it. Mexican medical teams interviewed 472 people who may have come into contact with the first known swine flu fatality, a 39-year-old woman.
But only 18 of the 472, all hospital workers, were tested for swine flu. Of those 18 saliva samples, 12 failed to gather enough cells to be tested, the state epidemiologist said. And in other parts of Mexico, health workers only this week started visiting the families of victims to find out whether they contracted it as well.
___
Associated Press writers Lauran Neergaard in Washington and Paul Haven, E. Eduardo Castillo and Istra Pacheco in Mexico City contributed to this report.
Enjoy! (Disfruten!)
DISPUTE OVER MEXICO'S EARLY RESPONSE...
MEXICO CITY – A top Mexican medical officer accused the World Health Organization of responding too slowly to early signs of the swine flu scare. The world agency said it was Mexico that failed to respond to its request to alert other nations to the first hints of the outbreak.
In the U.S., President Barack Obama said Friday it was not clear swine flu was any worse than "ordinary flus" but said the government is preparing in case it comes back in a more virulent form.
"I'm optimistic that we're going to be able to manage this effectively," Obama said.
Hong Kong confirmed a case of swine flu, Asia's first, and authorities there ordered a weeklong quarantine of the hotel where the man, a 25-year-old Mexican tourist, stayed. Besides Mexico and the U.S., cases have also been confirmed in six European nations, Canada, New Zealand and Israel.
Mexico's chief epidemiologist, Dr. Miguel Angel Lezana, told The Associated Press late Thursday that his center alerted the Pan American Health Organization, a regional arm of WHO, on April 16 about an unusually late rash of flu and pneumonia cases in Mexico.
He said PAHO took at least 48 hours to notify WHO headquarters, when normally that notification occurs immediately. On April 24 — the day Canadian and U.S. labs first identified the Mexican cases as swine flu — WHO announced it was worried the outbreak could become a pandemic.
A PAHO spokesman laid out a far different set of events in an interview with The Associated Press. When Mexico first confirmed an outbreak of acute respiratory infections in the state of Veracruz on April 12, WHO headquarters was notified automatically, spokesman Daniel Epstein said in Washington.
The next day, PAHO asked Mexico for permission to alert other countries to the outbreak, which local media had blamed for three deaths, but Mexico did not reply, Epstein said.
Mexican permission would have enabled PAHO to publish news of the deaths to a disease alert site seen by other countries, Epstein said.
It was five days later, on April 18, that Mexico gave PAHO its fullest accounting of the unusually late flu cases and some cases of severe pneumonia, the spokesman said. That same day, U.S. authorities let other nations know about two swine flu cases in California.
"PAHO and WHO acted as soon as we had reliable information about unusual outbreaks in order to work together to control the situation," Epstein said. "This was made even more urgent by the notification of cases in California."
Lezana called for an investigation into WHO's handling of the events. Earlier this week, Mexican health authorities came under criticism, particularly from frustrated citizens, for a slow and bumbling early response to the outbreak.
In the United States, the confirmed swine flu case count stood at 132. State lab operators say there are more cases than the confirmed number because they are not testing all suspected cases, focusing on finding new outbreak hot spots and limiting the flu's spread.
Obama said U.S. efforts were focused on identifying people who have the flu, getting medical help to the right places and providing clear advice to state and local officials and the public.
The president also said the U.S. government is working to produce a vaccine down the road, developing clear guidelines for school closings and trying to ensure businesses cooperate with workers who run out of sick leave.
He pointed out that regular seasonal flus kill about 36,000 people in the United States in an average year and send 200 to the hospital.
In Mexico, the outbreak's epicenter, new cases and the death rate were leveling off, the country's top medical officer said. Health authorities there have confirmed 343 swine flu cases and 15 deaths from the virus.
No new deaths from swine flu were reported overnight in the Mexican capital for the first time since the emergency was declared a week ago, said Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard.
"This isn't to say we are lowering our guard or we think we no longer have problems," Ebrard said. "But we're moving in the right direction."
As recently as Wednesday, Mexico's health secretary said there 168 suspected swine flu deaths in the country and almost 2,500 suspected cases. Mexican officials have stopped updating that number and say those totals may have been inflated.
"The fact that we have a stabilization in the daily numbers, even a drop, makes us optimistic," Mexican Health Secretary Jose Angel Cordova said. "Because what we'd expect is geometric or exponential growth. And that hasn't been the situation."
The only confirmed swine flu death outside Mexico was a Mexican toddler who died in a Texas hospital Monday.
The United States is buying 13 million courses of anti-flu drugs to replenish its stockpile and sending 400,000 courses to Mexico, which said earlier that it had a stockpile of 1 million courses. U.S. health officials say a swine flu vaccine could not be ready until fall at the earliest.
The Red Cross says it is readying an army of 60 million volunteers who could be deployed around the world to help slow the virus' spread.
Cordova said Mexicans with flu symptoms are now seeking medical attention quickly, and suspected swine flu cases are getting treatment even before the virus is confirmed, preventing deaths and limiting the virus' spread.
"If the treatment is given the first day, the patient is practically not contagious," Cordova said.
Cordova said outreach efforts to families of confirmed cases are turning up relatively few other cases.
Mexico shut down all but essential government services and private businesses Friday, the start of a five-day shutdown that includes a holiday weekend. Schools are also closed through Tuesday.
Mexico City's notoriously clogged avenues were clear, crime was down and the smog dropped to levels normally seen only on holidays. Mexico is using the shutdown to determine whether to extend or ease emergency measures.
Lezana told the AP that while Mexico waited for WHO to help, Mexican authorities tried to identify the outbreak and stop it. Mexican medical teams interviewed 472 people who may have come into contact with the first known swine flu fatality, a 39-year-old woman.
But only 18 of the 472, all hospital workers, were tested for swine flu. Of those 18 saliva samples, 12 failed to gather enough cells to be tested, the state epidemiologist said. And in other parts of Mexico, health workers only this week started visiting the families of victims to find out whether they contracted it as well.
___
Associated Press writers Lauran Neergaard in Washington and Paul Haven, E. Eduardo Castillo and Istra Pacheco in Mexico City contributed to this report.
Transmitido el miércoles por la noche en N. B. C:: ¿Ya empezaron a tomar su decisión sobre sus planes de vacaciones durante el verano de este año? Yo 
no estoy muy seguro a dónde dirigirme: si a un crucero de piratas Somalíes o un viaje a una granja porcina en México. 
"s"
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