Dr. Humberto Gerardo Flores, with more than three decades of experience in epidemic control

Since 1994, Dr. Humberto Gerardo Flores Muñoz has held the position of Coordinator of Epidemiological Surveillance in Health Jurisdiction No. 6, a technical-administrative agency of the Coahuila Health Secretariat that organizes, operates, supervises, and evaluates the general health of the municipalities of Torreón, Matamoros, and Viesca.

Epidemiology is responsible for studying all the factors that determine the presence or absence of diseases in social groups and allows for the design of disease prevention and control strategies, improving the population's quality of life.

The affable doctor says that just over three decades in this coordination represent a very extensive history of events, some of great magnitude, experienced not only in Mexico but throughout the world.

Events in the region Throughout his career, he recalls several events that took place in La Laguna, such as the control of rabies in dogs and humans; when they dealt with dengue outbreaks; and the COVID-19 pandemic, an infectious disease that affected thousands of people in this region and that, although here to stay, was brought under control through vaccination.

Flores Muñoz recalls experiencing new diseases in the Comarca Lagunera, such as the Chikungunya virus; he also experienced the polio vaccination campaign with the Sabin oral vaccine, which was very difficult because the Mexican government expected 95 percent of children to receive the vaccine in a single day.

"And this vaccine ultimately had to be abandoned because it did pose health risks. It was replaced with the one we have now, which is an inactivated vaccine and poses no risks to children. My time working in Epidemiology has been full of anecdotes, some pleasant, others unpleasant, but ultimately all are experiences worth trying to improve," he said.

Years of experience The doctor studied medicine at the Faculty of Medicine of the Autonomous University of Coahuila (UA de C) Torreón Unit; he completed a postgraduate study in Family Medicine at the National Polytechnic Institute and then completed a master's degree in Research, also at the UA de C. Later, he completed several diplomas at the General Directorate of Epidemiology (DGE), which is responsible for directing epidemiological surveillance and strengthening the network of collaborators at the national and international levels to provide information and knowledge that support public policies that benefit the health of the population.

He recalled that in 1990, he also worked in the Epidemiology Department of the Matamoros Comprehensive Hospital of the State Health Secretariat, as well as at the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS), where he retired after 28 years of administrative work.

"My role within the Health Jurisdiction is to monitor the behavior of diseases, and this involves the entire public and private sectors. Truly, the responsibility and commitment to disease reporting is at an excellent point right now here in Torreón, Matamoros, and Viesca, because everyone is collaborating. This is good because it allows us to understand the epidemiological profile of our community, to know what people are getting sick from, what they're dying from, and in this way, establish prevention and control strategies," he expressed.

In training The coordinator highlighted that in the area of ​​Public Health, there are increasingly more doctors in training who are interested in completing a medical residency through a university course in the specialty of Epidemiology.

In La Laguna, he estimated that there are more than 12 people immersed in the areas of Epidemiology in health institutions, so he didn't hesitate to foresee a bright future for the new generations. "I still enjoy Epidemiology and I think it's a very important field for modern medicine," he concluded.