MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentine health authorities insist influenza cases are normal for the year

However the death toll has risen to eleven with several patients in critical condition

Argentina’s influenza death toll has risen to 11 across the country. Three people have been reported dead in the past hours in the province of Córdoba where the number of total H1NI virus casualties has now reached four.

Córdoba’s victims are a 49-year old and a 56-year old men and a 63-year old woman. According to local medical authorities, five patients remain in serious condition at the San Antonio de Padua hospital, in the provincial city of Río Cuarto.

Meanwhile, in the province of Buenos Aires at least 40 cases have been reported.

Provincial Health Minister Alejandro Collia affirmed the situation is “under control” and “far from reaching” 2009 critical levels. Still, he warned cases are expected to increase in the upcoming weeks, urging at-risk populations to get vaccinated against influenza.

The federal Ministry of Health said that the circulation of the influenza virus is far less than in the two previous years, but called on risk groups to vaccinate.

“Compared to influenza type diseases, in 2011 at this time of the year we had 330.000 notified cases; last year, 270.000 and so far this year 230.000, which means the number of people with respiratory diseases has fallen”, said Dr. Carla Vizzotti, head of the Ministry’s Immune-preventable diseases control program.

The expert said that “this happens every winter, with the change of season and when cold weather takes off, the number of respiratory diseases soars but not only because of influenza but because of other respiratory virus such as the syncytial, adenovirus and the para-influenza”.

“With the vaccine we are not going to stop the circulation of the virus but we are going to prevent people from dying”, said Dr Vizzotti who added that “what we have seen so far is that all those patients with complications and which died, had risk factors and were not vaccinated”.