A sudden surge in the number of flu cases has put Jalisco health authorities on heightened alert.
The State Health Department (SSJ) has reported 123 influenza cases and one possible fatality so far this year. This is a 50-percent increase compared with the same period last year, and 104 cases have occurred in the past five weeks.
Health Secretary Jaime Gonzalez Alvarez urged people who have not yet received an annual flu shot to get one from their nearest clinic. The inoculations are free of charge. January and February are traditionally the worst months for influenza. State health authorities have ordered 2.3 million doses of flu vaccine for this season. So far, they have applied 1.4 million doses.
So-called “school filters” have been activated to prevent the virus spreading to children. The filters are designed to encourage parents and teachers to detect students with possible flu symptoms and keep them at home so contagion is avoided.
Jalisco Education Secretary Francisco Ayon Lopez said the filters had been put in place to “guarantee that all children that have respiratory infection symptoms are allowed to be absent from classes.”
GR staff