www.CostaRicaTicas.com

is it bad? chicas sick? or is the media blowing it out of proportion.

There has been a significant increase in the number of deaths from the H1N1 flue. Last week there was an average of 1 death per day which is rather high considering the population.

They extended the two week mid term school break another week and are considering extending it another week. More significantly they announced today that the romeria has been canceled. That is really a big deal considering it attracts about 2 million people participating and has been held annually for over 200 years.

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Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
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Alex Levine

You mean we have to put up with this again. When it fist broke I said it was nothing and it turned out to be nothing. The paranoia is worse than the virus .Now here we go again.

Someone be honest. Is this a threat to affect the action in C.R.? I'm going to be there in 3 weeks and I'm not worried about the virus. I'm worried about the people who are worried about the virus. Too many of those could spoil a good time. Even those higher numbers hardly seem to be significant.

I'll never forget the sight when I deboarded the the plane in San Jose in May. About 10 medical personnel were standing inside the gate wearing mask and gowns. I guess they were waiting to see if someone would sneeze because they didn't even look at the medical questionaires. Welcome to Costa Rica

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My wingman was talking to a doc when we there in July 4 - 12. He was told to purchase what is called a Z-pack. He bought a pack before he left and was sick upon his return. THIS DOES NOT MEAN HE HAD THE SWINE FLU, SO DON"T PANIC. He could have had no-tica-MP-in-the-US-itis, who knows. I just called him, he is fine and the actual product name is Azitromicina. It comes 3 - 500 mg pills. The pharmacy by the hospital above Amistad was charging $45. He went to a different pharmacy which charged $16 (generic?, I don't know). The location was west of the Presidente (Central Ave.) about 1/2 block after the park (National Theater), across from the supermarket.

I was fine except for a mild case of no-Sportsmans-tica-itis. Since I already had a trip booked for early Sept, it was only a mild case .

Zithromax (Azithromycin) is an antibiotic and would offer no protection from getting the flu.

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Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

I wasn't really sure what it was for. Thanks for the correction, ID. Why do you suppose the big price difference?

Dean

I will be down next week as well..if someone has anymore current info please give us an update?

From this mornings Inside Costa Rica.

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Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

Thanks for the quick update!

They use the word crisis in that article above . What crisis? Things like this happen everyday everywhere. There is nothing in that article that should even be news. Look at the shape of the woman they are talking about. The media is going crazy and the news must be slow so they need something to report.

This is your second post in this thread deriding the seriousness of the situation. That's fine everyone is entitled to weigh what they consider the facts and come to a conclusion. However 13 deaths, with over half of them occurring in the period of just over one week, is legitimate news.

Statistically 13 deaths among a population of just over 4 million is fairly significant and has health authorities in Costa Rica concerned. Their job is to alert the residents of Costa Rica and take the necessary actions to prevent a more widespread outbreak. Obviously in a tourist economy already being battered by economic conditions they would not be taking the measures they have without carefully weighing the pros and cons.

No one is obligated to take the precautions they recommend or to even agree they are necessary but to counsel others that there is no reason to be concerned is somewhat disingenuous IMO.

_________________
Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

In the first place I don't want to be disrespecful to the victims. To the people involved it is a tragedy. But I am sure that during this peoriod of time there are probably illnesses in this area that have had even more victims than this. But the media is focusing on this.

I also admit I might be wrong. But right now I would like to know, have the people who have been getting this virus been in contact with other or have had a common contact. If not there is likely another factor here. I also feel that this virus has probably been around for a while but was so mild, as most cases have been, that nobody was reporting it. Thus it seems to have come into contact with something else and became stronger, but only in some people. so again there is another factor invoved with this. These numbers are still awfully low for a contageous virus outbreak.

The flu is always there. You can get it at any time. We have had far greater outbreaks even at this time of year. You and I are vulnerable to this virus. But everyday we take risks. Every time I come into to contact with a woman who I do not know, flu or no flu, I am sure I am taking a greater riskthan this virus's risk, and what do you think I go down there for. This numbers might be unusual but stuff like this is always going on. It just usn't reported like this. Because of the unual way this outbrak started a few months ago the media went with it. But there is nothing now unusual about it.

Wait till you see how many people die from the vaccine.

Here's another update:

AH1N1 Flu Virus Deaths In Costa Rica Now 16; Back To School On Monday
Inside Costa Rica

The number of deaths from the AH1N1 flu virus keeps on climbing in Costa Rica, now reaching a total 16. The latest victims include a 28 year old man who was a drug addict and homeless. The directora de Vigilancia de la Salud del Ministerio de Salud, María Ethel Trejos, explained that the man was admitted to hospital for physical aggression, but once examined doctors detected that the man was infected with the virus.

Trejos said that the indigent community is at grave risk of infection as they live theirs lives in stress, poor hygiene condition and suffer from malnutrition. Another victim of the AH1N1 is a 75 year old man who has chronic pulmonary problems and recently operated for gastric cancer.

To date, Costa Rica has recorded a number of 560 cases of confirmed infection, 110 of which are in isolation and 22 cases in intensive care in the metropolitan area (San Jose) and will be no surprise if the number of deaths from the AH1N1 infection continues to grow.

BACK TO SCHOOL ON MONDAY

The ministra de Salud, Maria Luisa Avila, confirmed Thursday morning that the 1 million students and teachers will be back in the classroom on Monday, July 27, putting an end to an extended mi-year school vacation. The school vacation was extended an extra week as Costa Rica reaches the peak of the AH1N1 pandemic. Schools were closed this week after Salud officials decided it was best to keep Ch*ldren home another week to avoid risk of infection.

And as a side note:

AH1N1 Flu Deaths Rises To 9 In Colombia

Bogota - Death toll of the A/H1N1 flu rose to 9 in Colombia after a patient died in the northwestern city of Medellin, the authority said on Thursday. The Social Protection Ministry confirmed that a woman in Medellin died of the flu Monday in local hospital. "She came to hospital on July 13 and was hospitalized immediately," said the ministry, "but unfortunately she deteriorated badly and finally died.”

Since the flu was first detected in Colombia on May 3, there have been 245 confirmed cases and 2,480 suspected cases in the country so far, including the nine deaths. Six of the nine dead were from the capital Bogota, and two each came from Soacha and Viterbo. The Colombian government has tightened control at hospitals and health centers to avoid a large-scale spread of the disease in the country. It was possible that the number of A/H1N1 flu cases would increase rapidly in the country during the coming rain season, said the ministry.

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