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Below is the latest H1N1 Flu update from the New Mexico Department of Health.

The Department of Health will not know about or report every flu case in the state because not all cases are reported to the Department, and often sick individuals do not go to their doctors or get tested for influenza. The Department of Health is only tracking hospitalizations and deaths to determine if there is a change in the severity of the disease. The severity of illness due to H1N1 influenza has not changed nationally or in New Mexico from the spring. The illness has been mostly mild in New Mexico.

Influenza-Like IllnessThe Department tracks influenza-like illness, which is defined as fever and either cough and/or sore throat, at 22 clinics throughout the state. Influenza-like illness is the best indicator of flu activity in the state.

Visits to healthcare providers for influenza-like illness increased to 10.5 percent this week, which is an increase from approximately 5 percent from the week prior. During the peak of last year’s flu season in March of 2009, approximately three percent of all visits to providers were due to influenza-like illness.

Deaths
There is one new H1N1-releated death reported this week. A 28-year-old male from Lea County died Sept. 23 after being hospitalized in El Paso, Texas. The man did not have any known chronic health conditions. So far this year, there have been 9 deaths related to H1N1 influenza in the state. The other H1N1-related deaths are as follows:

• 45-year-old female from Sierra County with end stage liver disease
• 52-year-old female from Bernalillo County with chronic pulmonary disease
• 48-year-old female from McKinley County with asthma and diabetes
• 21-year-old female from Los Alamos County without chronic medical conditions
• 58-year-old male from Bernalillo County with chronic conditions that put him at risk for serious complications from the flu
• A female infant from Roosevelt County and a 5-year-old female from Sandoval County died as a result of H1N1 influenza. Neither child had a chronic medical condition.

H1N1 Deaths by County
Los Alamos - 1
McKinley - 1
Sierra - 1
Bernalillo - 2
Sandoval - 1
Roosevelt - 1
Chaves - 1
Lea - 1
Total - 9

Vaccine Information
The Department of Health has ordered the first shipment of H1N1 vaccine and expects the vaccine to arrive this week. The initial order of 12,000 doses will be shipped to providers statewide based on population and number of high-risk people. The first shipment will be only nasal flu vaccine that can only be given to persons 2 to 49 years of age who are not pregnant and do not have chronic health conditions. The Department of Health is placing an order this week for approximately 7,000 doses of injectable vaccine that will be sent to hospitals statewide.

The first groups the Department of Health is advising to get vaccinated are pregnant women, household members/caretakers of infants less than 6 months old, children 6 to 59 months of age, children 5 to18 years with certain chronic health conditions that increase their risk of complications from flu, and healthcare workers and emergency medical service personnel with direct patient care.

The Department of Health will announce public mass vaccination clinics as they are scheduled. People are encouraged to contact their primary healthcare provider to ask if they will offer H1N1 vaccine when it becomes available. People without insurance or whose primary provider will not offer H1N1 vaccine should contact their local public health office. Public health offices are listed in the phonebook’s blue pages under state government. Contact information for public health offices is also listed at www.nmhealth.org.