Updates on NYC outbreak:
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/20...u-concerns/?hp
Toddler’s Death Stokes Flu Concerns
By Sewell Chan
Updated, 11:32 a.m. | New York City health authorities are investigating the death of a 16-month-old child as a possible case of swine flu.
The boy, identified as Jonathan Zamora Castillo of Corona, Queens, died at 10:20 p.m. Monday at Elmhurst Hospital Center, less than an hour after being brought in with a high fever, the hospital announced. The child’s 3-year-old sibling, who was also brought to the hospital, was treated and released, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said Tuesday morning.
In addition, the mayor announced that there were
four confirmed and four probable cases of swine flu at Rikers Island, the city’s jail complex.
On Sunday, an assistant principal at a Queens public school, Mitchell Wiener, became the city’s first swine flu death. It was not clear whether the child who died Monday night had any underlying health problems.
“Every parent in the city, myself included, can appreciate the grief the parents of these children are experiencing,” the mayor said of Jonathan’s parents. “We don’t yet know if the child who died had contracted the H1N1 virus. Tests will be performed at the city’s Health Department lab to investigate that question.”
In a suggestion that the city was concerned that residents without health insurance and illegal immigrants might be hesitant to go to hospitals, the mayor emphasized that neither factor should hinder anyone ill from seeking treatment.
“Whether you have health insurance coverage or your immigration status is in question, it doesn’t matter,” the mayor said. “We will not ask about that. I don’t know and don’t care what the immigration status was of the children in question.”
Alan D. Aviles, the president of the city’s Health and Hospitals Corporation, said that emergency admissions were running about 50 percent higher than usual for adults and “more than 100 percent above average” for children.
The union representing the city’s correctional officers issued a statement on Tuesday morning criticizing the response to the swine-flu outbreak among inmates, and suggested that inmates be temporarily relocated to other facilities. The union, the Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association, has scheduled a 12:30 p.m. news conference.
In his news conference, the mayor rejected the idea of relocating the inmates.
“Correction and health officials are monitoring the situation and preparing to implement additional inmate screening and, where needed, isolation of ill inmates,” the mayor said. “It is in some senses easier to control because, obviously, the prisoners can’t leave. On the other hand, it is also a confined area where we really don’t have the choice of moving people out and asking them to stay home The situation in the schools if you think about it, is exactly the reverse.”
Asked about the call by Norman I. Seabrook, the president of the Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association, for inmates to be relocated, the mayor turned a bit testy. “If he’s an epidemiologist, it’s the first time I heard, but I’ll be happy to listen to him,” the mayor said.
Also on Tuesday, city officials took questions on the criteria used to determine when and which schools to close. Since late last week, 16 schools in 12 school buildings have been ordered shut.
Dr. Adam Karpati, a deputy health commissioner, who was at the mayor’s news conference, said:
Our main criteria that we’re looking at is not necessarily absenteeism. Children are absent from school for a variety of reasons. What we’re really focusing on is kids who are being identified by the school nurse in the school as having a documented fever when they come into the room. That’s the main indicator we’re looking at.
Dario Centorcelli, a spokesman for Elmhurst Hospital Center, where the child died, said there were typically about 200 patients each day in the pediatric emergency room, a number that rose sharply over the weekend and peaked at 407 patients on Monday.
“We’re pulling resources from every place we can,” to deal with increased demand, Mr. Centorcelli said. “So far we’ve been coping,” he said, while noting that there were now longer waits for patients.
The waiting room for pediatric emergency care on Tuesday was crowded with about 75 children and adults. Many wore surgical masks. Kids slept on colorful benches, in front of a mural of Central Park.
**************************************************
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/..._hospital.html
Health officials could determine as early as Tuesday afternoon whether swine flu killed a 16-month-old baby in Queens, authorities said.
Mayor Bloomberg said tests are being performed to pinpoint whether the child, identified by sources as Jonathan Zamora, is the city's second death related to the H1N1 virus.
"What we do know is a child is dead, and it's very tragic," he said at a Tuesday morning briefing in Midtown. "Speculation is not something we want to do."
Officials also said there are four confirmed cases of the flu at the Rikers Island prison complex, leading corrections staff to take precautions.
Both new inmates and prisoners being transported to court will be checked for flu-like symptoms, Bloomberg said.
The mayor also predicted more schools could be added to the list of 15 public, one parochial and one private school that have been shuttered.
The developments come hours after the Monday night death of Zamora, whose parents emigrated from Mexico four years ago but have not returned to their homeland recently.
Officials said Zamora had no pre-existing health problems. His parents noticed he had a high fever - it spiked to 105 degrees - when they put him to bed Sunday night. He died soon after he was rushed to Elmhurst Hospital late Monday.
The hospital took tissue swabs from Jonathan's body and the the city's public health lab will test to determine if he died of the H1N1 virus, Health Department spokeswoman Jessica Scaperotti said.
"We're beginning the investigation today," Scaperotti said Tuesday.
The baby's 3-year-old sister and two cousins also came down with flulike symptoms.
The other three children, who lived in Corona with Jonathan, were treated at the same hospital and released. One of the released children attended a nursery school near the family's home.
"They don't want to talk to anyone," said Alex Ramirez, 32, who answered the door at the home of the grieving parents.
The pediatric emergency room at Elmhurst Hospital saw two to three times its normal volume of visitors, hospital officials said.
"People are frightened," hospital spokesman Dario Centorcelli said.
"We're pretty much overwhelmed here," Centorcelli said. "We only have so much room and so much staff. We've put on extra staff, we've opened extra clinics. There's only so much room and staff we have."
Those seeking treatment reported waits of up to 10 hours.
Edgar Villalba, 12, waited nine hours with his mother for his 10-month-old sister to be seen. "You just see people coughing, sneezing, wearing masks," he said of the overloaded emergency waiting room. He said his sister does not have swine flu.
The vast majority of people seeking help are being told to return home to rest and to take Tylenol or ibuprofin, sold over the counter as Advil or Motrin or in generic form. "Most of the cases are mild," Centorcelli said.