Zihuatanejo-Ixtapa Message Board - Good news

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The last section of the Carretera Escénica Playa La Ropa was finished being paved the day before yesterday. Some details are still left regarding the sidewalks and lighting, but the long car waits should now be a thing of the past. The work is not the quality that La Ropa deserves, and the project potentially cost local businesses millions in lost revenue, but at least they have their new cement road.

In other relevant local news, the illegal plan to change the city's zoning for over 400 hectares of lands was finally overturned yesterday by the city council. Thanks in large part to the lawsuit by local businesspersons and citizens and the continued pressure in opposition by much of the community. This is a big deal for us.

Another promising piece of news is that the federal government has committed itself to building a new hospital with over 900 beds in Zihuatanejo. The funds have been approved by the World Bank and Banobras of Mexico. The only thing holding up the show now is for the city (or some philanthropic citizen or entity) to donate 23,000 square meters of land for the project. Our region urgently needs this facility, so hopefully the land will soon be found and construction will soon begin with local workers.

¡Obla di obla da! B-)

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Good news indeed.

Who would run the new Hospital?

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Good news indeed.

Who would run the new Hospital?

Now THERE'S an interesting question. I believe it would be run by the federal health department, the Secretaría de Salud. That should in theory be good news since the state and local governments seem so inept, especially in the area of health care.

Se invertirían mil 700 mdp en nuevo hospital de Zihuatanejo

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Are you sure that it is to be a 900 bed hospital? That seems extremely large for an area the size of Zihuatanejo.

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Are you sure that it is to be a 900 bed hospital? That seems extremely large for an area the size of Zihuatanejo.

Population of the Municipality is over 100,000. And recently at least 30% had Chikungunya.

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A 2o IMSS facility would have significantly more advanced technique like for neonatal, stroke and cardiac care. Does Acapulco have a 1o IMSS facility?

A doctor practicing in a basic IMSS 3o (periferico) would be able to answer these questions. unfortunately the nearest is a long way from here.

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Found some stats compiled for the period 2005-2012 (Global Health Facts by the Kaiser Foundation) which show # of hospital beds per 10,000 population.

Canada – 32
France - 66
Germany – 82
Mexico – 17
U.K. – 30
U.S. – 30

Then there’s Monaco with 165! ;-) Zih may want to aspire higher than its northern neighbors (we are woefully behind the Europeans), but per its most recent numbers, something’s gotta give and those 900 beds will likely be reduced when the final plan is presented.

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Found some stats compiled for the period 2005-2012 (Global Health Facts by the Kaiser Foundation) which show # of hospital beds per 10,000 population.

Canada – 32
France - 66
Germany – 82
Mexico – 17
U.K. – 30
U.S. – 30

Then there’s Monaco with 165! Zih may want to aspire higher than its northern neighbors (we are woefully behind the Europeans), but per its most recent numbers, something’s gotta give and those 900 beds will likely be reduced when the final plan is presented.

I suppose it wasn't obvious to everyone that when I said "region" I meant an area larger than just Zihuatanejo's municipio. As it is, people come from as far away as Coahuayutla, Altamirano and Papanoa for medical treatment here in Zihuatanejo. Our local health care facilities have been inadequate and outdated for decades. This is intended to be a hospital de especialidades, not an IMSS hospital, and our region will need every one of those 960 beds as our population ages. ;-)

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Are you sure that it is to be a 900 bed hospital? That seems extremely large for an area the size of Zihuatanejo.

Population of the Municipality is over 100,000. And recently at least 30% had Chikungunya.

30,000 cases? At least 30,000 cases of chikungunya over the past 6-12 months in Zihuatanejo de Azueta??
Either there's a decimal point error, or we better plan on bringing down a whole case of repellent.

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Are you sure that it is to be a 900 bed hospital? That seems extremely large for an area the size of Zihuatanejo.

Population of the Municipality is over 100,000. And recently at least 30% had Chikungunya.

30,000 cases? At least 30,000 cases of chikungunya over the past 6-12 months in Zihuatanejo de Azueta??
Either there's a decimal point error, or we better plan on bringing down a whole case of repellent.

Most cases go unreported, and government stats are simply unreliable. Though I believe Tess is exaggerating, most of my neighbors have had Chikungunya. We had all the windows, doors and other openings in our home totally screened to increase the protection for our family. The government's fumigation efforts have been a sad joke at best. I don't believe they have passed by our home since the beginning of July.

The fortunate thing about Chikungunya and Dengue is that since they are mosquito-borne diseases the incidences tend to be concentrated in areas where the mosquitoes and people are infected, meaning they tend not to be affecting the hotels and tourist areas since folks with the diseases generally stay home and the mosquitoes that infected them generally aren't located near the tourist lodgings. It initially swept through downtown Zihuatanejo about 4 or 5 months ago, but I haven't heard of any neighbors coming down with either disease since that time, while the folks in the outlying neighborhoods and in the sierra are still reporting cases.

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Are you sure that it is to be a 900 bed hospital? That seems extremely large for an area the size of Zihuatanejo.

Population of the Municipality is over 100,000. And recently at least 30% had Chikungunya.

30,000 cases? At least 30,000 cases of chikungunya over the past 6-12 months in Zihuatanejo de Azueta??
Either there's a decimal point error, or we better plan on bringing down a whole case of repellent.

Most cases go unreported, and government stats are simply unreliable. If Tess is exaggerating, it ain't by much. Most of my neighbors have had Chikungunya, but we had all the windows, doors and other openings in our home totally screened to increase the protection for our family. The government's fumigation efforts have been a sad joke at best. I don't believe they have passed by our home since the beginning of July.

All the government reports say their stats are "laboratory confirmed" and no one here is running lab tests. They also reported in the news this week, when the federal govt declared a state of emergency in Guerrero for Chikungunya, that no in in Mexico has died from it. Both Rob and I know people who have. My 30% was based on asking doctors and lab chemists and pharmacists when I read in the newspapers, at the height here, that the hospitals had run out of tylenol and were not even letting patients in the door.
And like Rob I had a screen door built so I too am completely screened in and I a using a lot of DEET.
I read a story in the papers a couple of days ago about a village in the mountains above us where everyone had it and they had to send in the Cruz Roja to take care of them and bring in supplies.
Keith's comments about whole families is important because when one member of a family gets it a mosquito is infected biting that person and then bites the other members of the household and everyone has it.
So yes, Holy Mole, come prepared. I don't want to be alarmist but the demographic of NOB visitors has gotten older and we are more at risk of long term side effects.
But it is still paradise (even though it is hot as hell this summer) :vivamexico:

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Maybe I'll take Rob's advise and vacation in Florida with the other Trump supporters :star:

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Maybe I'll take Rob's advise and vacation in Florida with the other Trump supporters

Too late! Chikungunya has arrived in Florida.
It is here

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Maybe I'll take Rob's advise and vacation in Florida with the other Trump supporters

Wonderful! Besides Dengue and Chikungunya they also have the West Nile Virus, Eastern equine encephalitis, St. Louis encephalitis (all mosquito-borne diseases), the brain-eating amoeba, and pyschocretin rednecks armed to the teeth!

I feel much safer right here in Zihuatanejo! ;-)
:vivamexico:

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I have some doubts regarding the statement about 30,000 cases of Chikungunya.

According to the linked article is seems that only serological diagnosis can differentiate the two viruses. Doubt that analysis was done on 30,000 people in Zihuatanejo. Who would have done it and who would have paid for it?

Regardless, it was probably some of each and traveler should be aware and know what to do for prevention. Traveling at peak mosquito seasons may not be such a good idea either.

Tess could you also name the publications and dates of the publications you read or at least post a source. Thank you.

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I have some doubts regarding the statement about 30,000 cases of Chikungunya.

According to the linked article is seems that only serological diagnosis can differentiate the two viruses. Doubt that analysis was done on 30,000 people in Zihuatanejo. Who would have done it and who would have paid for it?

Regardless, it was probably some of each and traveler should be aware and know what to do for prevention. Traveling at peak mosquito seasons may not be such a good idea either.

Tess could you also name the publications and dates of the publications you read or at least post a source. Thank you.

Please read,

As Tess and I both already alluded to, most cases of either disease go unreported and thus officially undiagnosed, and the government has already been caught fudging the numbers. Locals who have had Dengue at least once (most all of us) don't need a diagnosis to tell us the difference between Chikungunya and Dengue. Most every family we know has at least one member who has had Chikungunya this year. It killed my neighbor's father when the virus was still making its first round here in Zihuatanejo.

The Secretaría de Salud of Guerrero's state government has been severely compromised by corruption since the administration of Zeferino Torreblanca, and when the interim governor took over after Ángel Aguirre was forced to resign, the first thing he did was fire about 500 workers and cut way back on the programs to combat Chikungunya and Dengue. Unfortunately the state simply has no money.

The state has rehired some of the people it previously fired, mainly the folks who fumigate, although here in downtown Zihuatanejo I have not seen any fumigators since the beginning of July. In contrast, in Ixtapa's residential and hotel areas there has been a continuous fumigation program except in the 6,000 units of Casas Geo located behind (inland from) Ixtapa.

I agree 30,000 is most likely an exaggerated number, but the number is certainly in the several thousands, not in the hundreds as state officials have claimed. The people who remain the most affected in our municipio are generally the lesser educated who occupy marginalized neighborhoods. The best the government can do at present is to carry out information campaigns so that folks remove standing water from objects on their properties. If it rained the flow of water would help to reduce the areas of standing water and thus the incidences of Dengue and Chikungunya, but we are essentially suffering a period of extreme shortage of rains. There are actually less mosquitoes present when we have our daily afternoon rains, but our normal weather pattern has been disrupted this year by the unusually prolonged presence of El Niño owing to causes that you already denied exist.

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Screens for windows and patio doors! Wow can you share who you used?

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........ So yes, Holy Mole, come prepared. I don't want to be alarmist but the demographic of NOB visitors has gotten older and we are more at risk of long term side effects.

I don't think it's alarmist at all: this information is alarming. Guerrero may have declared a state of emergency with respect to chikungunya, but it seems the World Health Organization isn't on Guerrero's mailing list. A brief check of the WHO website makes only a casual reference to chikungunya having spread to "the Americas". Go to the WHO's list of "outbreaks" of chikungunya, and you'll see:
Aug/15 - Spain
Oct/14 - France
Dec/13 - French Caribbean
Oct/06 - India
March/06 - SW Indian Ocean
Feb/06 - Reunion Island
and yet the numbers you have alluded to, in just one small municipality in Mexico, constitute a full-fledged health emergency. Or am I being alarmist?

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--
http://www.OneMansWonder.com

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MAP

Thanks.

Autochthonous?

My new word of the day.

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Here are some numbers from early August, not only for Guerrero, but other states as well.

yucatan times info

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Please remember that all govt stats are based on lab confirmed cases. There is no one here able to test. Even in the US the CDC says (note it recommends Biosafety Level testing which is not here):

"Where can I order chikungunya virus testing?
Diagnostic testing is available through a few commercial laboratories, many state health departments, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Contact your state health department for more information and to facilitate testing.

Chikungunya virus infection should be considered in patients with acute onset of fever and polyarthralgia, especially travelers who recently returned from areas with known virus transmission.

Laboratory diagnosis is generally accomplished by testing serum or plasma to detect virus, viral nucleic acid, or virus-specific immunoglobulin (Ig) M and neutralizing antibodies. Viral culture may detect virus in the first 3 days of illness; however, chikungunya virus should be handled under biosafety level (BSL) 3 conditions. During the first 8 days of illness, chikungunya viral RNA can often be identified in serum. Chikungunya virus antibodies normally develop toward the end of the first week of illness. Therefore, to definitively rule out the diagnosis, convalescent-phase samples should be obtained from patients whose acute-phase samples test negative." :vivamexico:

Down here it is pretty much you know you have it and all you can do is take Tylenol (in case it is Dengue where you do not want to take Aspirin or Ibuprofen)

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Down here it is pretty much you know you have it and all you can do is take Tylenol (in case it is Dengue where you do not want to take Aspirin or Ibuprofen)

Can you clarify that last sentence? If one has fever and joint pain, assume it's chikungunya and take Tylenol/acetaminophen....but if it's dengue, you don't take aspirin or ibuprofen? What does one take for dengue? Is aspirin and/or ibuprofen OK for chikungunya?

I ask because Mrs. HolyMole isn't supposed to take either acetaminophen or ibuprofen. Maybe just staying home in the snow, (where there are NO mosquitoes) is the best idea?

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I personally think if you spray yourself well when going out to places you think there might be a problem you would be fine. I also think you are worrying too much about something that probably is not going to happen in the first place, but that is just me. Hope to see you both here this next winter. I will be here.

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Down here it is pretty much you know you have it and all you can do is take Tylenol (in case it is Dengue where you do not want to take Aspirin or Ibuprofen)

Can you clarify that last sentence? If one has fever and joint pain, assume it's chikungunya and take Tylenol/acetaminophen....but if it's dengue, you don't take aspirin or ibuprofen? What does one take for dengue? Is aspirin and/or ibuprofen OK for chikungunya?

I ask because Mrs. HolyMole isn't supposed to take either acetaminophen or ibuprofen. Maybe just staying home in the snow, (where there are NO mosquitoes) is the best idea?

You could just stay home and hide under a desk.

Or you could just get on with livin'! ;-)
[image]

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I suspect sarcasm on your part. See you at the beach!

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I suspect sarcasm on your part. See you at the beach!

Don't know what I wrote that gave you that idea, Katherine. I'm a mosquito magnet, and Mrs. H. and I are both on the far side of 65, with, as they say, some "health issues". The kitchen and seating area in the place we've rented for this coming season is open-air, and you can't screen the wide-open. Only the bedroom is screened, so it sounds like we'll be spending most of our time "in our room". Either that or it's a DEET lather-up 24/7.

Rob's comment:

"You could just stay home and hide under a desk.

Or you could just get on with livin'! ;-) "

is the same old chestnut used to belittle those worried about cartel and other criminal activity. We've always figured that we're just two little fish in a school of thousands, so what are the chances we'll be AFfected by criminal activity? But if 30% of the school is getting INfected, there's a pretty good chance we will be too.

I buy lottery tickets with a 1-in-15 million chance of winning. In the Chikungunya Lottery, it looks like there's a 3-in-10 chance of "winning".

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I suspect sarcasm on your part. See you at the beach!

Don't know what I wrote that gave you that idea, Katherine. I'm a mosquito magnet, and Mrs. H. and I are both on the far side of 65, with, as they say, some "health issues". The kitchen and seating area in the place we've rented for this coming season is open-air, and you can't screen the wide-open. Only the bedroom is screened, so it sounds like we'll be spending most of our time "in our room". Either that or it's a DEET lather-up 24/7.

Rob's comment:

"You could just stay home and hide under a desk.

Or you could just get on with livin'! "

is the same old chestnut used to belittle those worried about cartel and other criminal activity. We've always figured that we're just two little fish in a school of thousands, so what are the chances we'll be AFfected by criminal activity? But if 30% of the school is getting INfected, there's a pretty good chance we will be too.

I buy lottery tickets with a 1-in-15 million chance of winning. In the Chikungunya Lottery, it looks like there's a 3-in-10 chance of "winning".

As I repeated several times, I don't believe Tess's 30,000 figure is accurate (and I'll kick her in the shin for posting that next time I see her), and STATEWIDE the figure is still only a few thousand at most in a state with around 3.5 million people (not counting tourists). Mosquito coils or those plug-in repellents should do fine keeping you from getting bitten in your open-air outdoor area. Only worry if your neighbors get ill with Dengue or Chikungunya since it will mean infected mosquitoes are nearby.

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Now Tess says she isn't my friend anymore for making my previous comments. GIRLZ! :grrr:

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Our home in Zihua is very open-air; only the bedrooms have screened windows. We left Zihua in mid-June, when the Chikingunya epidemic was raging. We use a combination of Deet on our bodies and burning raidolita coils. I say, take precautions but don't stay home. Life is too short to stay home in the snow when you could be living it up in Zihua. Just my opinion.
:-)

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I used the DEET containing wipes during my trips to Jamaica in February and Hawaii last November. They worked really well and were much nicer to use than sprays. Despite the seemingly higher cost, I'm sold on them. I'm a mosquito magnet also. I think the wipes actually provided more effective coverage.

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The wipes are much more convenient for travel. No fuss at security and they are easy to pack. And one towelette works for two people. We've used them for a couple years and I am a believer.

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I think you should take reasonable precautions. Assume the cloak of invincibility. Have s good time. Hope for the best. Works for me with West Nile and Lyme Disease where I live. Not changing any plans.

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Ever read the dangers of using Deet? Might be better off fighting through a case of Chikungunya and build up an immunity than the risk of chemicals with know risks such as Deet.

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http://popsci.com/article/science/deet-safe-use

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Kinda like the weather forecast, pick the station that gives you the forecast you want to hear.

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Kinda like the folks who started the gluten-free craze, when only 1% of the population can't process it.

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Instead of our usual stay at the Irma my wife are splurging this year and staying on La Ropa , this is good news :kingtut:
Thanks Rob for the update!

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I hate my new Dell computer, when I hit enter it somehow deleted the and I from my post. It should have read "Instead of our usual stay at the Irma my wife and I are splurging this year and staying on La Ropa , this is good news :kingtut:
Thanks Rob for the update!"

Additionally a new hospital would be a welcome addition and good news for Zihuatanejo as it will also help bring in more long term seasonal tourists.

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Thanks for sharing all this good news, Rob. Thanks also for all the great photos you share. We are looking so forward to returning to our adopted home.

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as we expect to staying in la ropa next year this is great news. and yes, quite sure the construction was much worse for the local economy than any " delays" were for visitors. hoping to someday make zihua home, a new hospital would be wonderful for all!!!

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900 beds seems inflated
In Calgary our largest hospital has 1023 beds and serves more than 2 million people from our area,south eastern British Columbia, southwestern Saskatchewan and some areas in N.W USA
However a new modern facility of any size is good news

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Yes, really good news. Now, how would you like to be in HR trying find all the highly technical staffers for an operation this size! Yes, jobs, jobs, jobs.

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Regarding the new hospital, the land has been found and made available. Expect an official announcement in a month after the new municipal administration has taken office since no one involved with the project wants anything to do with the current administration.

:woohoo:

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Regarding the new hospital, the land has been found and made available. Expect an official announcement in a month after the new municipal administration has taken office since no one involved with the project wants anything to do with the current administration.

Any chisme on what EFB's doing in his spare time, now that he's out of politics? Keeping a low profile?

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Any chisme on what EFB's doing in his spare time, now that he's out of politics? Keeping a low profile?

Ha! :megusta:

His profile's SO LOW he can't scroll DOWN on Facebook.

His profile's SO LOW his hat tips him.

His profile's SO LOW there ain't an app for that.

His profile's SO LOW it could be a sinkhole.

His profile's SO LOW even the Donald likes him.

His profile's SO LOW his reflection fades in slowly.

His profile is SO LOW... :snicker:

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How wonderful for him.

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Well, according to an article in today's paper the folks who doubted the 900+ beds number for the new hospital de especialidades appear to have been right, if the same source can be considered reliable at this point. Today it appears there will only be 220 beds in the new hospital.

I thought enquiring minds wouldd want to know.

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