Argentine health authorities announced Wednesday that swine flu deaths have more than doubled in the last month. The death toll has now climbed to 337 from 137 on 14 July.
Deputy health minister Máximo Diosque added that an additional 400 flu related deaths are being investigated for the swine flu virus. “We have to say that given the epidemiological tendency it is very probable that the majority of those 400 deaths are from H1N1,” he said.
He said that swine flu had almost completely supplanted regular flu. Some 700,000 out of 762,711 cases of flu—roughly 93 per cent—have been swine flu.
The climbing death toll puts Argentina close to overtaking the US, with 353 confirmed deaths, as the country with the most deaths. These number are shocking considering that Argentina has about one eighth the population of the US.
Other Latin American countries fall far behind Argentina, with Chile, Brasil, Uruguay, Paraguay and Mexico combining for a total of 381 deaths.
The continuing epidemic will go on effecting Argentina’s struggling economy. With attendance down at many public venues and tourism in southern ski resorts reportedly cut by half, it’s unclear whether anything will improve in the near future. Buenos Aires alone is estimated to have lost some US$1b as a result of the flu.
Whether Argentina will take more measures to avoid further spreading of the epidemic is unclear. The government had previously closed theatres, schools and some public spaces.
The good news is that lab reports have confirmed that the Argentina strain of the virus has not mutated, as had been expected by some.