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Flu cases increase
EFE | 2009-12-17 | The Press
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A girl prepares to be injected vaccine against H1N1 flu in a hospital in San Juan. / EFE 1 / 1 Confirmed cases of H1N1 (swine) in Puerto Rico increased to 1,084, while deaths attributed to the virus amount to 49, according to the Health Department secretary, Lorenzo Gonzalez.
The official said that the 7 to 13 December, 56 new cases confirmed, despite the ongoing vaccination campaign that aims to reach one million Puerto Ricans at the end of December.
Gonzalez also said that until the end of last week had been vaccinated about 100,000 students without complications recorded notable among them.
He announced that this week will be a new round of vaccination in hospitals, open to groups likely to spread, which excludes persons from 25 to 65 years without chronic disease.
Vast campaign
The vaccination campaign is carried out on the island will eventually reach two million people and it will join a prevention plan throughout the country.
The director of the Division of Epidemiology, Department of Health Johnny Rullan said the vaccination campaign is carried out successfully.
Rullan said that, however, the Health Department's goal is that in the coming months be vaccinated up to two million people, half the population of Puerto Rico, a figure that matches the number of doses available in the island.
The epidemiologist said the campaign includes mobilization directed a team of 800 people, including nearly 600 nurses, who daily travels through the island to supply the vaccine among the population.
Rullan explained that his team visited 240 schools daily, with the aim of supplying the vaccine in the group of students, one of the groups of most concern to the Department of Health.
Disinformation overcome
As the success of the campaign among the population, said that at first caused misinformation that many people were reluctant to be vaccinated against the fear of being used as "guinea pigs".
"When he later explained to the population that the vaccine against the H1N1 flu had been administered to millions of people and there were no problems," he said.
No person vaccinated against the flu has died in Puerto Rico as a result of complications, while only thirteen patients experienced any adverse reaction, according to Health.
Rullan said the number of deaths from this flu in Puerto Rico is similar to those seen in other Western countries, with one death for every 315 cases confirmed.