The Department of Health is reporting five H1N1-related deaths in the last week in New Mexico. The latest deaths are: a 27-year-old woman from Doña Ana County without chronic medical conditions, a 53-year-old man from McKinley County without chronic medical conditions, a 4-year-old boy from San Juan County without chronic medical conditions, a 53-year-old man from Bernalillo County with chronic medical conditions, and a 51-year-old man from Valencia County with chronic medical conditions.

The 49 year-old male whose death was reported last week has been determined to be a resident of another state and is no longer included in the New Mexico deaths.

There have been 26 deaths related to H1N1 influenza in the state.  Information about the other deaths is listed on the Department’s H1N1 website at: www.nmhealth.org/H1N1.

The Department of Health has ordered 186,760 doses of nasal and injectable H1N1 vaccine. Vaccine is arriving in small amounts and is being distributed to providers and public health offices statewide.

The Department of Health is encouraging people in the following current H1N1 vaccination priority groups to get vaccinated as soon as possible: 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 is encouraging people in the current priority groups to call their primary healthcare providers first to ask if they are providing the novel H1N1 vaccine. People in the priority groups without insurance or a healthcare provider, or whose provider will not offer the H1N1 vaccine, can get the vaccine from a local public health office.  Call your local public health office first to check the availability of H1N1 vaccine. Public health offices are listed in the phonebook’s blue pages under state government or online at www.nmhealth.org.

The following is a total amount of H1N1 vaccine that has been ordered for each county as of Nov. 4:  Bernalillo (60,400), Catron (170), Chaves (9,580), Cibola (2,770), Colfax (1,230), Curry (4,160), DeBaca (100), Doña Ana (19,610), Eddy, (4,490), Grant (2,670), Guadalupe (300), Harding (20), Hidalgo (220), Lea (5,400), Lincoln (1,550), Los Alamos (1,440), Luna (2,770), McKinley (9,250), Mora (330), Otero (5,090), Quay (930), Rio Arriba (3,575), Roosevelt (1,490), San Juan (12,040), San Miguel (3,090), Sandoval (8,540), Santa Fe (13,085), Sierra (890), Socorro (2,250), Taos (2,170), Torrance (1,620), Union (360), Valencia (5,220).

There have been 731 hospitalizations related to novel H1N1 influenza.  The hospitalizations by county are as follows: Bernalillo County (175), Chaves County (14), Cibola County (13), Colfax (18), Curry (36), Doña Ana County (74), Eddy County (23), Grant County (5), Guadalupe County (1), Lea County (23), Lincoln County (6), Los Alamos County (1), Luna County (3), McKinley County (63), Mora County (1), Otero County (27), Quay (4), Rio Arriba County (13), Roosevelt County (10), San Juan County (45), San Miguel (4), Sandoval County (28), Santa Fe County (34), Sierra County (8), Socorro County (13), Taos County (18), Torrance County (2), Union (1), Valencia County (24) and 44 cases where residence has not yet been determined. 

New Mexico H1N1 Information:

1-866-850-5893 or www.nmhealth.org/H1N1.

Spanish Information:

1-800-784-0394

Statewide Flu Clinics:

National H1N1 Information:

www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu