MÉRIDA, Yucatan – In the last week of epidemiological surveillance of seasonal influenza, corresponding to the 2022-2023 season, the Federal Ministry of Health confirmed the death of four people, bringing to five the number of victims of the respiratory disease in Yucatán.
According to the report of the Epidemiological Surveillance System for Viral Respiratory Disease, as of March 9 (epidemiological week 10), the entity has a total of 93 positive cases, out of 10,521 cases of Influenza Type Illness/Serious Acute Respiratory Infection (ETI/IRAG), considered suspicious.
Decrease in cases
Compared to the same week of the previous season (2021-2022), when there were a total of 278 positive cases of influenza and five deaths, the number of infections this season shows a reduction of 66.55%.
The 2022-2023 season began in week 40 (first week of October, 2022) and ends in week 20 (second week of May).
To date, Quintana Roo reports 37 positive cases and six deaths, and Campeche accumulates 34 infections, with no confirmed deaths.
The 164 cases concentrated in the three states of the Yucatan Peninsula represent 1.81% of the 9,061 positive cases of influenza reported nationwide.
Of the total number of infections, 90.9% are due to influenza AH3N2; 4.0% to influenza A Non Subtypifiable; 2.8% to influenza B; and 2.3% to influenza AH1N1.
Epidemic curve
The Ministry of Health reported that in the first weeks of this 2022-2023 season, the epidemic curve of cases was above the last five seasons, observing high transmission in November and December 2022, and that there is a decline that began in the last two weeks of December.
The Federal Health report also notes that during the seasonal seasons from week 40 to week 20 of each subsequent year, a variable distribution among influenza viral types and subtypes has been observed.
In the last two seasons 2020-2021 and 2021-2022, viral subtype A (H3N2) and Influenza A Non-subtypable were predominant.
In the current season up to the March 9 cutoff, the predominance of viral subtype A (H3N2) was observed in 90.9% of the positive cases.
TYT Newsroom