Finnish students stuck in Mexico in the middle of swine flu

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Finns Jussi Moilanen and Sini Pesonen, students at the Theatre Academy in Helsinki, arrived in Mexico last Wednesday, but are now desperately trying to get out of the capital because of the swine influenza virus cases recorded in the city.
      ”I feel paranoid, as I do not know for sure how the disease spreads and how swine flu viruses infect humans. The given information is so inconsistent”, Moilanen writes in his e-mail message.
      He says that because of air pollution alone, he has a sore throat and a runny nose.
     
The Finns saw the first people wearing surgical masks as a precaution against infection out in the streets already on Wednesday.
      ”The next day the number of such people was larger, but we thought that they were using masks because of the high amount of airborne pollutants. On Saturday we learned about the swine flu”, Moilanen reports.
     
In their lodging the students heard from the personnel that all public buildings are to be closed because of the influenza that has come from Europe.
      ”That is to say that according to the rumour, the virus is of European origin”, Moilanen adds.
      According to the Finnish students, the atmosphere in the lodgings is peculiar, as the personnel are trying to infuse hope and joy by dancing salsa and playing Latino hits.
      ”Nevertheless we are a little scared. We think that many tourists have already left the city”, Moilanen estimates.
      The Finns are considering an ”escape” themselves, either by bus to some other part of Mexico or preferably by plane to Finland. However, all travel agencies and airline offices are closed.
     
”For the time being we are stuck here, waiting for information about return flights and passing our time in studying Spanish vocabulary relating to doctors, diseases, and hospitals”, Moilanen reports.
      According to the Embassy of Finland, the current number of Finns permanently living in Mexico is 340, while well over 200 of them actually reside in the capital area.
      As far as is known, so far no Finns living in Mexico have been reported infected.
     
Swine influenza virus refers to influenza cases that are caused by Orthomyxoviruses endemic to pig populations.
      In March and April 2009, more than 1,000 people have been infected in Mexico, while more than 80 deaths are suspected to have a connection with the virus. Moreover, a number of confirmed cases have been recorded in the southwestern United States and in Kansas, while several suspected cases have been detected in the New York City metropolitan area.
     
The symptoms of a swine flu are similar to the typical symptoms of the common influenza, including a high temperature, muscle pain, a sore throat, and sometimes diarrhoea and nausea, reports Professor Petri Ruutu of the National Institute for Health and Welfare.


Links:
  National Institute for Health and Welfare
  Mexican Foreign Ministry: Press release on the swine influenza outbreak (.pdf file)
  Swine influenza (Wikipedia)
  World Health Organization

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