The New Mexico Department of Health says that visits to health care providers in the state for influenza like illness has dropped for the third week in a row. But, visits are still higher than usual for this time of year.

H1N1 is still the predominant strain of flu in New Mexico at this time.  All positive flu tests are presumed to be H1N1 influenza.

There have been 838 hospitalizations related to the H1N1 flu, 53 in Curry County, 10 in Roosevelt, and 4 in Quay County.  And a total of 29 deaths related to H1N1 in the entire state.

The Department tracks influenza-like illness, which is defined as fever and either cough and/or sore throat, at 26 clinics throughout the state. Influenza-like illness is the best indicator of flu activity in the state.