New York City, USA - Queens Educator Dies With Swine Flu; 16 Schools Closed

[sharon sanders]

Big Flu Outbreak Closes NYC Schools
1 Staffer In Critical Condition
SARA KUGLER, Associated Press Writer

POSTED: 4:38 pm MDT May 14, 2009
UPDATED: 4:52 pm MDT May 14, 2009


NEW YORK -- New York City has closed three schools in response to a swine flu outbreak that has left one staff member in critical condition and sent hundreds of kids home with flu symptoms, in a flare-up of the deadly virus that sent shock waves through the world last month. A Health Department spokeswoman tells The Associated Press that four students and the staff member have tested positive for swine flu at a middle school in Queens. At another middle school in Queens, 241 students were absent Thursday. Dozens more were sick at an elementary school.


snip

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/heal...37/detail.html

[yielddude]

NYC Mayor: 3 Schools Closed On Flu Worry; 1 Staffer In HospitalLast update: 5/14/2009 7:01:59 PMNEW YORK (AFP)--New York officials said Thursday they were shutting down three schools in response to a swine flu outbreak and that one person had been hospitalized in serious condition. The three schools, with a total of about 4,500 students, will close for five days starting Friday in response to "an unusually high level of flu-like illnesses at those schools," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. One staff member was hospitalized, said Gov. David Paterson. (END) Dow Jones NewswiresMay 14, 2009 19:01 ET (23:01 GMT)

[Science Teacher]

Queens Educator Critically Ill With Swine Flu; 3 Schools Closed
By Anemona Hartocollis AND Javier C. Hernandez
Updated, 6:51 p.m. | In the first serious case of swine flu in New York City, an assistant principal of a Queens middle school has been hospitalized and is on a ventilator, officials announced Thursday. The city closed that school, and two others with large clusters of flu-like symptoms. All three schools are to remain closed through next week.

The assistant principal works at Intermediate School 238, in the Hollis section of Queens, and was said to have become critically ill. The authorities would not immediately disclose his name, but Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said at a City Hall news conference on Thursday evening that the educator “may have had other health problems” — “pre-existing conditions” that would have made him more vulnerable to the flu.

The new outbreak raised the possibility that the virus may have mutated into a more severe form than has been seen yet in New York.
From: NYTimes City Room update 6:51PM
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/20...-swine-flu/?hp

[Mellie]

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/20...-swine-flu/?hp

May 14, 2009, 5:48 pm

Queens Educator Critically Ill With Swine Flu; 3 Schools Closed

By Anemona Hartocollis AND Javier C. Hernandez

Updated, 6:51 p.m. | In the first serious case of swine flu in New York City, the assistant principal of a Queens middle school has been hospitalized and is on a ventilator, officials announced Thursday. The city closed that school, and two others with large clusters of flulike symptoms. All three schools are to remain closed through next week.

The assistant principal worked at Intermediate School 238, in the Hollis section of Queens, and was said to have become critically ill. The authorities would not immediately disclose his name, but Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said at a City Hall news conference on Thursday evening that the educator “may have had other health problems” — “pre-existing conditions” that would have made him more vulnerable to the flu.

The new outbreak raised the possibility that the virus may have mutated into a more severe form than has been seen yet in New York.

Swine flu has been documented in four other students at I.S. 238, at 88-15 182nd Street, and more than 50 students with flulike symptoms have been sent home from the school since May 6, the mayor said.

Three public schools in Queens — the middle school where the assistant principal worked, as well as Intermediate School 5 in Elmhurst and Public School 16 in Corona — are being closed, effective Friday, because of the outbreak, officials said. The three schools together enroll some 4,500 students.

At I.S. 5, at 50-40 Jacobus Street, 241 students were absent from classes on Thursday. And at P.S. 16, 41-15 104th Street, 29 students reported flulike symptoms at the nurse’s office on Thursday.

The three schools will be closed Friday and all of next week. “I regret the inconvenience but we think these measures are absolutely necessary,” the mayor said. “They demonstrate that our public health system is working effectively. We are acting as promptly as the evidence requires us to do.”

The mayor also said, “While the symptoms of H1N1 flu seem to resemble those of seasonal flu, the H1N1 virus seems to spread rapidly, so we’re closing these schools in order to slow transmission.”

Gov. David A. Paterson, who joined the mayor for the news conference at City Hall, urged the public “to remain alert rather than alarmed.” He said the assistant principal “is in our prayers.”

At I.S. 238, where the assistant principal worked, the building was shut at 4:35 p.m. and students taking part in after-school programs were directed to leave. Several students, interviewed early Thursday evening in the schoolyard by the basketball court, expressed concern.

Kvon Williams-Sparks, 13, an eighth grader, said he had noticed an increase in the frequency with which janitors were cleaning the bathrooms, and said the assistant principal had not been work since Monday. “On Monday, I found a notice in the library that said, ‘If you are sick, you should stay home,’” Kvon said. “But nobody has otherwise talked to us.”

Another eighth grader, Jonathan Rodriguez, 14, said he was told by a gym teacher that the school would be closed until May 21.

A seventh grader, Guillien Ishanga, 12, said that in his homeroom, “there are normally 31 kids, and this week we’ve had 11 kids absent. My brother was sick. My mom took him to the hospital and the doctor said it was a normal flu.” When asked whether his mother would keep him home, he said, “We would only follow what the doctor said.”

A crowd of three teachers, five police officers and two Department of Education officials stood outside the school; none would comment on the flu outbreak.

The new outbreak comes as officials seemed to be leaving the impression that the immediate danger of the virus, officially known as A(H1N1), had passed. As of Thursday morning, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had identified 4,298 confirmed and probable cases of swine flu in the United States, causing three deaths: two in Texas and one in Washington State.

Just days ago, the state health commissioner, Dr. Richard F. Daines, announced that the state would begin treating swine flu as it would begin to treat any ordinary seasonal flu, and that the state would decrease its level of testing and just look for new patterns.

The city’s health commissioner, Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, had also stopped giving daily updates on the progress of the flu.

Asked if the city had let its guard down too soon, Mr. Bloomberg replied: “Most people haven’t come down with it. You’ve got to remember, we’re talking about 4,500 students here in a city of 8.4 million. It may very well be that a lot of people have it and the symptoms are so minor that they don’t even know it. That’s one of the things we’ll be studying.”

In light of the new outbreak, this de-escalation of public expressions of concern raised questions about whether public health officials had let their guard down too soon.

The United Federation of Teachers, the city’s teachers’ union, said it was closely working with the Education and Health Departments and the mayor’s office. “We are very concerned for students and staff at all three schools as well as their families,” the union said in a statement. “We hope that the measures being taken to address the situation will alleviate the need for additional steps. We will continue to monitor the situation and we hope that everyone affected will make a quick recovery.”

Chiara Coletti, a spokeswoman for the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators, the city principals’ union, said in a statement: “Right now, we are doing all that we can to assist and support the family of our fellow union member who has fallen ill. We are deeply concerned about our students, their families, and the educators at all three schools and we will do everything we can for them.”

Sewell Chan and Angela Macropoulos contributed reporting.

[HenryN]

Getting crowded

Maps

[logicalAmerican]

Queens Educator Critically Ill With Swine Flu; 3 Schools Closed
By Anemona Hartocollis AND Javier C. Hernandez
May 14, 2009, 5:48 pm

Updated, 9:29 p.m. | In the first serious case of swine flu in New York City, an assistant principal of a Queens middle school has been hospitalized and is on a ventilator, officials announced Thursday. The city closed that school, and two others with large clusters of flu-like symptoms. All three schools are to remain closed for about a week. (See the article prepared for Friday’s print edition.)

The assistant principal works at Intermediate School 238, in the Hollis section of Queens, and was said to have become critically ill. Neighbors and school officials identified the man as Mitchell Wiener, who is in his mid-50s and has worked for the school system for about three decades.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said at a City Hall news conference on Thursday evening that the man “may have had other health problems” — “pre-existing conditions” that would have made him more vulnerable to the flu.

Swine flu has been documented in four other students at I.S. 238, at 88-15 182nd Street, and more than 50 students with flu-like symptoms have been sent home from the school since May 6, the mayor said.

Three public schools in Queens — the middle school where the assistant principal worked, as well as Intermediate School 5 in Elmhurst and Public School 16 in Corona — are being closed, effective Friday, because of the outbreak, officials said. The three schools together enroll some 4,500 students.

At I.S. 5, at 50-40 Jacobus Street, 241 students were absent from classes on Thursday. And at P.S. 16, 41-15 104th Street, 29 students reported flu-like symptoms at the nurse’s office on Thursday.

The three schools will be closed until next Friday. “I regret the inconvenience but we think these measures are absolutely necessary,” the mayor said. “They demonstrate that our public health system is working effectively. We are acting as promptly as the evidence requires us to do.”

The mayor also said, “While the symptoms of H1N1 flu seem to resemble those of seasonal flu, the H1N1 virus seems to spread rapidly, so we’re closing these schools in order to slow transmission.”

Gov. David A. Paterson, who joined the mayor for the news conference at City Hall, urged the public “to remain alert rather than alarmed.” He said the assistant principal “is in our prayers.”

At I.S. 238, where the assistant principal worked, the building was shut at 4:35 p.m. and students taking part in after-school programs were directed to leave. Several students, interviewed early Thursday evening in the schoolyard by the basketball court, expressed concern.

Kvon Williams-Sparks, 13, an eighth grader, said he had noticed an increase in the frequency with which janitors were cleaning the bathrooms, and said the assistant principal had not been at work since Monday. “On Monday, I found a notice in the library that said, ‘If you are sick, you should stay home,’” Kvon said. “But nobody has otherwise talked to us.”

Another eighth-grader, Jonathan Rodriguez, 14, said he was told by a gym teacher that the school would be closed until May 21.

A seventh grader, Guillien Ishanga, 12, said that in his homeroom, “there are normally 31 kids, and this week we’ve had 11 kids absent. My brother was sick. My mom took him to the hospital and the doctor said it was a normal flu.” When asked whether his mother would keep him home, he said, “We would only follow what the doctor said.”

A crowd of three teachers, five police officers and two Department of Education officials stood outside the school; none would comment on the flu outbreak.

At P.S.16, parents began to gather on the sidewalk outside the school, including Iris Milgar, 27, the mother of a 6-year-old kindergartner who was sent home with a fever. “They called me to tell me she was sick, and my mother came to get her,” Ms. Milgar said. “They sent her home with a nurse’s letter. She has a fever and chills.”

Nicholas Martinez, 38, an unemployed former Marine who is receiving worker’s compensation and has a son in the first grade, said no notification was given — no letter in his son’s backback, no e-mail, no phone call. He said that the school’s population is 90 percent Latino, and that most of the students are from immigrant families. “You see, they don’t send e-mails or anything. They assume none of these parents have e-mail.”

Ana Moreno, 40, who does house cleaning in Manhattan and has a daughter in the second grade, responded to the flu outbreak this way: “Wow, this is terrible. I had no idea there was a problem here. Now I’m going to have to find a way for someone to take care of my daughter.”

Public health authorities have been worried that public concern about the danger of the virus, officially known as A(H1N1), has waned.

As of Thursday morning, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had identified 4,298 confirmed and probable cases of swine flu in the United States, causing three deaths: two in Texas and one in Washington State.

Just days ago, the state health commissioner, Dr. Richard F. Daines, announced that the state would begin treating swine flu as it would begin to treat any ordinary seasonal flu, and that the state would decrease its level of testing and just look for new patterns.

The city’s health commissioner, Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, had also stopped giving daily updates on the progress of the flu.

Asked if the city had let its guard down too soon, Mr. Bloomberg replied: “Most people haven’t come down with it. You’ve got to remember, we’re talking about 4,500 students here in a city of 8.4 million. It may very well be that a lot of people have it and the symptoms are so minor that they don’t even know it. That’s one of the things we’ll be studying.”

The United Federation of Teachers, the city’s teachers’ union, said it was closely working with the Education and Health Departments and the mayor’s office. “We are very concerned for students and staff at all three schools as well as their families,” the union said in a statement. “We hope that the measures being taken to address the situation will alleviate the need for additional steps. We will continue to monitor the situation and we hope that everyone affected will make a quick recovery.”

Chiara Coletti, a spokeswoman for the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators, the city principals’ union, said in a statement: “Right now, we are doing all that we can to assist and support the family of our fellow union member who has fallen ill. We are deeply concerned about our students, their families, and the educators at all three schools and we will do everything we can for them.”

Sewell Chan, Angela Macropoulos and Mick Meenan contributed reporting.

URL: http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/20...-swine-flu/?hp

[HenryN]

City closing three schools in Queens over fears of swine flu outbreak

BY Adam Lisberg and Leo Standora
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Updated Thursday, May 14th 2009, 5:13 PM
Bates for News PS 16 in Corona is one of three Queens schools being closed for a week over fears of a swine flu outbreak.

Related News

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• St. Francis Prep reopens classes after swine flu scare

Three Queens schools were ordered closed for a week after an assistant principal at Intermediate School 238 in Hollis was hospitalized with the city's first serious case of swine flu.
Mayor Bloomberg said 56-year-old Mitchell Wiener was on a ventilator and critically ill.
Sources said he was near death at Flushing Hospital.
Officials closed IS 238, IS 5 in Elmhurst and Public School 16 in Corona - all hit with a rash of sicknesses and absences - as a precaution starting today.
The 4,475 affected students are due back in class next Friday. Many of the students at the schools are in special-education classes.
Wiener's illness raised fears that the H1N1 virus - which has spread to 34 countries, sickening nearly 6,672 and killing 70 - may have mutated into a more severe form never before seen in New York.
Wiener's family huddled Thursday night in the "pastoral care" room, where clergy members console family members.
Mayor Bloomberg told a City Hall press conference there was no evidence swine flu is "worse than normal influenza. ... In a city of 8.4 million, there might be a lot of people who have it."
He acknowledged that checks at city hospitals have shown a higher-than-usual rate of visits lately.
Wiener may have been hit hard by the virus because of "preexisting conditions," Bloomberg said.
At IS 238, students were pulling for the beloved educator.
"He's a cool guy," said Tyriek Barrow, 14, an eighth-grader from Hollis. "He looks out for the students. If they need anything, like a pencil sharpener, he'll give it to them and say, 'Give it back at the end of the day, and don't lose it.'"
Another eighth-grader, Steven Norris, 14, admitted he "used to get in trouble" and had detention with Wiener. "He used to order pizza for us. He was always cool. I'm kinda scared because people said if your immune system isn't healthy enough, you could die."
An education source said the school closings were ordered because there were clusters of flulike symptoms among students.
The source said the student absentee rate at IS 238, which normally is about 5% or 6%, had tripled to 16% Thursday.
"It's been mounting slowly all week," the source said.
"Too many kids were starting to get sick, so they had to close the schools. They got hit hard and fast. We thought this was done, but this week it came back with a vengeance."
In addition to Wiener's case, IS238 - the Susan B. Anthony School - has had four students with swine flu and 50 more with flulike symptoms since May 6.
PS 16 reported that 29 students went to the nurse's office with flulike symptoms Thursday, while 241 students were absent.
Students at IS 238 told reporters Wiener had been out for several days and that more kids than usual were absent this week.
Gov. Paterson said the state is monitoring the outbreak: "We encourage everyone to remain alert, rather than alarmed."
Thursday's closings came a week after St. Francis Prep in Fresh Meadows, the school with the most confirmed cases of swine flu, reopened after being shuttered for a week.
alisberg@nydailynews.com
With Edgar Sandoval


Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2009/05/14/2009-05-14_new_york_city_closing_three_schools_to_deal_wit h_big_flu_outbreak.html#ixzz0FZR1naOj&B

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/..._outbreak.html

[HenryN]

Swine flu shuts 3 NYC schools, 1 victim critically ill

BY RIDGELY OCHS | ridgely.ochs@newsday.com

11:13 PM EDT, May 14, 2009

At IS 238 in Hollis, Queens, two men attach school closure notices to the main doors. (Photo by Patrick E. McCarthy / May 14, 2009)



Just when it appeared that the swine flu outbreak was beginning to subside, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced Thursday night that an assistant principal at a Queens school was critically ill from the virus and that three Queens schools would be closed until next Friday to slow its spread.

Although Queens has been an epicenter of the swine flu outbreak in New York, until now there have been no serious cases or deaths in the state.

Bloomberg said there was no indication that the new flu virus had mutated to become more virulent. Gov. David A. Paterson, who was also at the City Hall news conference, said the most unusual aspect of the outbreak was its lateness: Most flus peak around February, he said.

Bloomberg said the ailing school official, Mitchell Wiener of Flushing, a veteran educator of 30 years, may have had pre-existing medical problems that exacerbated his condition - not unusual in serious flu-related illnesses.




The mayor said the decision to close the schools was made "to slow transmission" of the virus.

About 4,500 students are affected by the school closures. The Queens schools are IS 238, the Susan B. Anthony Intermediate School; IS 5, the Walter Crowley Intermediate School; and PS 16, an elementary school.

At IS 238 - the school with the critically ill assistant principal - more than 50 students have been sent home with flulike symptoms since May 6, according to the city health department. Four students, as well as the assistant principal, have been confirmed as having H1N1.

Typically, the total attendance at the three schools is about 92 percent to 94 percent; this week the attendance dropped to between 84 percent and 88 percent, said Margie Feinberg, a spokeswoman for the New York City Department of Education.

"A lot of the students had flulike symptoms," she said.

One parent, Chanmattie Kandasami of Hollis, said her son Joel, who is a seventh-grader at IS 238, came home with a fever Wednesday night. He was also nauseous and had a headache, she said. She said she took him to the doctor Thursday, who told her it was the "regular flu."

She said she doesn't know the assistant principal, saying, "It's sad. It's a sad story."

At IS 5, 241 were absent. At the elementary school, 29 students reported flulike symptoms Thursday.

The mayor said there are no obvious connections among the three schools, which are miles from each other, or to St. Francis Preparatory School in Fresh Meadows.

Last month, scores of students and staff at St. Francis became ill from the flu after several students returned from vacations in Mexico, where the outbreak began. The school was closed for a week and has since reopened.

The mayor said there was no chance the three Queens schools would open earlier than next Friday.

Earlier Thursday, the New York State Department of Health announced 16 new cases of swine flu, bringing the total confirmed statewide to 230.

All of those latest confirmed cases were from outside New York City, where the number stands at 167, the state said. The new confirmed cases include five in Nassau County and eight cases in Suffolk County. So far, there have been 17 confirmed cases of the swine flu in Suffolk and 18 in Nassau, according to the state health department.

Those cases have been all been mild, with the symptoms resembling those of seasonal flu - fever, cough, sore throat, body aches and chills.

To date, 33 countries have reported a total of 6,672 cases. The United States has reported 3,352 confirmed cases, including three deaths.

- Staff writers Christina Hernandez and Chau Lam contributed to this story.

http://www.newsday.com/news/printedi...,4949848.story

[HenryN]

Originally Posted by niman

Swine flu shuts 3 NYC schools, 1 victim critically ill

BY RIDGELY OCHS | ridgely.ochs@newsday.com

11:13 PM EDT, May 14, 2009

One parent, Chanmattie Kandasami of Hollis, said her son Joel, who is a seventh-grader at IS 238, came home with a fever Wednesday night. He was also nauseous and had a headache, she said. She said she took him to the doctor Thursday, who told her it was the "regular flu."


http://www.newsday.com/news/printedi...,4949848.story

Misinformation distribution in high gear. There is no way that doctor could exclude swine flu.

[HenryN]

City was too slow to act on flu warning, sez Intermediate School 5 teacher

By Nicholas Hirshon and Bill Hutchinson
DAILY NEWS WRITERS
Friday, May 15th 2009, 4:00 AM
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A teacher at one of the three Queens schools shuttered because of swine flu accused education and health officials Thursday night of reacting slowly to the new outbreak.
Dermot Smyth, a sociology teacher at Intermediate School 5 in Elmhurst, said he e-mailed the Department of Education last Friday warning of a high number of students calling in sick.
Smyth, a teachers' union representative at his school, said education officials told him the virus was being monitored and appeared to have run its course.
"We got word back from the Department of Health that the swine flu was not that serious anymore," Smyth said.
As student absences spiked to 50 in one day, Smyth said he realized the malady was far from over and took his concerns to the United Federation of Teachers.
"That's when movement happened," said Smyth, adding that he will see his doctor today about a runny nose and sore throat.
After meeting with union, health and education officials, the city closed IS 5 Thursday and two other Queens schools where the virus appeared to be running rampant.
"It shouldn't just be like that," Smyth said of the frustration of getting swift action. "There has to be a way of getting in touch with them where we don't feel stifled."
Before the schools were closed, Smyth and other teachers took it upon themselves to wipe off desks with sanitizer.
Meanwhile, outside Intermediate School 238 in Hollis, parents and student expressed fear of getting sick and concern for a gravely ill assistant principal hospitalized with the virus.
"I'm just worried," said Sandy Seepersaud, 40, of Hollis.



Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2009/05/15/2009-05-15_city_was_too_slow_to_act_on_flu_warning_sez_tea cher.html#ixzz0FZUnCZNL&B

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/...z_teacher.html

[HenryN]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
May 14, 2009

STATEMENT FROM GOVERNOR DAVID A. PATERSON ON THE CLOSING OF THREE QUEENS SCHOOLS DUE TO H1N1

---

“Today, I joined New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg to announce that the New York City Health Department has recommended closing three schools in Queens after documenting unusually high levels of influenza-like illness. The schools will close tomorrow and remain closed for at least five school days.

“We will continue to work closely with New York City officials to monitor the situation at these three schools and schools across the State to ensure that we are taking all necessary precautions to protect our children and families. I continue to urge residents across New York to remain alert, but not alarmed.”

The three schools that closed in Queens include:

• • I.S. 238Q (the Susan B. Anthony School) in Jamaica where four students and one staff member have been documented with H1N1, and, to date, more than 50 students have been sent home with flu-like symptoms.
  • P.S. 16Q in Corona where 29 students were documented with flu-like symptoms.
  • I.S. 5Q (the Walter Crowley Intermediate School) in Elmhurst where 241 students were reported absent from school.

To date, the New York State Department of Health has reported a total of 230 cases of laboratory-confirmed H1N1 in New York State, including 63 cases in counties outside of New York City and 167 cases in New York City.

Influenza is serious and seasonal influenza is still active in New York State. An estimated 36,000 people in the United States die each year from seasonal flu. In New York, seasonal flu is responsible for approximately 2,000 deaths statewide. In 2008, New York State had eight pediatric deaths and to date in 2009, there have been seven pediatric deaths associated with seasonal flu.

The symptoms of H1N1 include fever, cough, sore throat, congestion and runny nose, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. Some people have also reported diarrhea and vomiting as well. New Yorkers experiencing severe symptoms, such as difficulty breathing, should seek immediate medical care.

Precautionary measures for both seasonal flu and swine flu include:

• • Washing your hands often with soap and warm water. Alcohol-based hand cleansers are also effective.
  • Avoiding people who are ill.
  • Staying home from work or school if you are sick.
  • Using tissue when you cough, sneeze or spit, and dispose of the tissue in a covered trash bin.
  • Keeping hands away from your face. Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth.
  • Cleaning shared space more often such as phone receivers, keyboards, steering wheels and office equipment.
  • Refraining from sharing personal items such as forks, spoons, toothbrushes and towels.

For more information about H1N1 and precautionary measures, please visit http://www.ny.gov/h1n1/index.html.

http://www.ny.gov/governor/press/press_0514095.html

[Commonground]

Post #11

Influenza is serious and seasonal influenza is still active in New York State.

Are they still doing the weekly surveillance for seasonal flu? Or have they stopped for the season?

[HenryN]

Commentary

[tropical]

Originally Posted by Commonground

Post #11

Are they still doing the weekly surveillance for seasonal flu? Or have they stopped for the season?

As here we all know, and Dr. Niman pointed it previously:
there is no way that doctor(s) can exclude swine flu - without an individual testing of every patient claims flu symptoms AND the others 1/3 of incubated who don't have any symptoms.

This "seasonal flu" some doctor dismissions without lab facts is an very dangerous behaviour to their's patients health.

[Legadillo]

Queens Assistant Principal's swine flu not treatable; condition worsening, family by his side
By Adam Lisberg and Brian Kates
Daily News Staff Writers

Friday, May 15th 2009, 8:33 AM

A Queens assistant principal apparently striken by swine flu was clinging to life on a ventilator this morning as his distraught family stood by his hospital bed.

Mitchell Wiener, assistant principal at Intermediate School 238 in Hollis, is "in critical condition, pretty weak but not hopeless," his son Adam, 23, told the Daily News.

"His level of oxidation in his lungs is very low right now," he added.

Mitchell Wiener, 56, was admitted Flushing Hospital Wednesday morning and hasn't been conscious since Thursday afternoon when he was sedated.

Adam described his father as "loving, caring," and said, "it was very, very rough last night."

IS 238 was one of three schools closed today after they were hit with a rash of sickness and absences.

Students at the school said Wiener had been out for several days and that more kids than usual were absent this week.

Mayor Bloomberg called the closings precautionary and said there is no evidence that swiene flu is "worse than normal influenza.

Also closed is IS 5 in Elmhurst and Public Schjool 16 in Corona. The 4,475 students involved a due back in class in a week.

On Thursday Bloomberg said Wiener may have been felled by the virus bucause of "pre-existing condtions."

Wiener's family told The News that the much-loved educator was diagnosed with gout a year and a half ago.

Wiener's illness raised fears that the H1N1 virus - which has spread to 34 countries, sickening nearly 6,672 and killing 70 - may have mutated into a more severe form never before seen in New York.

An education department source said the student absentee rate at IS 238, which normally is about 5% or 6%, had tripled to 16% Thursday.

"It's been mounting slowly all week," the source said.

"Too many kids were starting to get sick, so they had to close the schools. They got hit hard and fast. We thought this was done, but this week it came back with a vengeance."
In addition to Wiener's case, IS 238 - the Susan B. Anthony School - has had four students with swine flu and 50 more with flulike symptoms since May 6.

PS 16 reported that 29 students went to the nurse's office with flulike symptoms Thursday, while 241 students were absent.

Gov. Paterson said the state is monitoring the outbreak: "We encourage everyone to remain alert, rather than alarmed."

Thursday's closings came a week after St. Francis Prep in Fresh Meadows, the school with the most confirmed cases of swine flu, reopened after being shuttered for a week.

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/..._flu_cond.html

[wdcare]

AP:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/...0fbZwD986N4000

[wotan]

Originally Posted by tropical

"... may have been felled by the virus bucause of "pre-existing condtions."
... was diagnosed with gout a year and a half ago"

I looked up Gout to refresh my memory on what it it. I couldn't find a link that could be stretched to making you more susceptible to flu.

[HenryN]

Links between gout and flu are beyond la la land.

[sharon sanders]

Gout is an autoimmune disease. This has ramifications for host response if they are listing this as a causative factor in the serious disease progression of 2009 H1N1 in this individual.

[ironorehopper]

From Weekly Epidemiological Record, vol. 84, no. 20, May 15, 2009:

A spectrum of illness similar to seasonal influenza has been observed for the new influenza A(H1N1) virus. It ranges from a mild illness to more severe disease leading to hospitalization and death in a small proportion of confirmed cases. Among those with self-limited disease, the predominant clinical picture appears to be an uncomplicated influenza-like illness not requiring antiviral treatment. Severe illness has been reported, both in people with and without risk factors for complications of seasonal influenza.

It is notable that a substantial proportion of cases with severe disease occurred among young and healthy adults. In contrast, the vast majority of deaths associated with seasonal influenza occur among the elderly. Most of the clinical complications associated with H1N1 infection, in both healthy individuals and those with underlying medical conditions, appear to be related to severe respiratory disease.

(...)

Also available at FT.

http://www.who.int/wer/2009/wer8420.pdf

[HenryN]

Queens Schools Closed After Flu Strikes Principal

By ANEMONA HARTOCOLLIS

Published: May 15, 2009
Three public schools in Queens were being disinfected Friday morning after the city closed them because of outbreaks of swine flu. An assistant principal was in critical condition with the city’s most serious case of swine flu since the virus turned up here more than three weeks ago.
Skip to next paragraph The New York Times


Related

Times Topics: Swine Flu (AH1N1 Virus)




About two-dozen children who showed up at one of them, Public School 16 in Corona at 7:30 a.m. were met by officials from the Department of Education and directed to return home.
A note on the door of the school from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene said that the school — along with two middle schools in Queens — would be closed for at least five days.
“These schools have experienced unusually high levels of influenza-like illness in recent days,” the note read. “We are also seeing an increase in flu activity in Queens more generally. We hope that these temporary closures will prevent new infections and avoid unnecessary illness.”
Just as many New Yorkers were beginning to forget the threat of swine flu, which first showed up last month, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg confirmed at a hastily called news conference on Thursday evening that the flu had re-emerged.
Colleagues identified the sick man as Mitchell Wiener, the assistant principal of Intermediate School 238 in Hollis, who on Friday was on a ventilator and being treated at Flushing Hospital Medical Center. His son, Adam Wiener, told The Associated Press on Friday that his father was suffering from kidney failure, dehydration and a lung infection.
Mr. Bloomberg said on Thurssday night that Mr. Wiener appeared to have had some health problems that could have made him more susceptible to the virusm and colleagues and friends of the educator said said he had diabetes and sometimes walked with a cane.
But on Friday morning, the younger Mr. Wiener told The A.P. that his father’s only pre-existing condition he had “is gout, which is unrelated to complications he’s experienced now."
In addition to Mr. Wiener, who is in his 50s, four students at I.S. 238 have been confirmed as having swine flu, officials said. More than 50 students at the school have been sent home with influenza-like symptoms since May 6.
The Education Department decided on Thursday to close I.S. 238 as well as P.S. 16 after 29 students went to the nurse’s office with flu-like symptoms, and I.S. 5 in Elmhurst, where 241 students were reported absent. Officials said the plan is to reopen those schools next Friday.
There was some confusion outside P.S. 16 on Friday as parents and children who had apparently not heard about the closing began arriving. There are about 1,500 students at the school, according to the education department.
"I didn’t know," said Susana Cruz, the mother of Madelyne Vaca,7, one of the people who were outside of the school.. "It’s a little scary because everything was O.K. yesterday."
Ms. Cruz said she was unaware any children had become ill and said her daughter had no flu-like symptoms.
Madeline Bono, who has been a crossing guard at the school for 11 years and learned about the swine flu cases on Thursday, said: "I’m surprised there’s so many of them coming today. They must not be listening to the news."
Yolanda Rivera, a substitute teacher at P.S. 16, said there was nothing to be scared of and that the school had taken appropriate measures to keep the children safe.
“It’s going to be fine,” Ms. Rivera said. “What else could they be doing? This is the first time this has happened, and they’re very organized."
Mr. Bloomberg said there was no clear connection among the three schools, which are, “reasonably far apart, five or six miles,” He said they were being closed because the flu, whose formal name is A(H1N1), appeared to spread very rapidly.
The school closings came nearly a month after the first case of swine flu to surface in the United States was detected at St. Francis Preparatory School in Fresh Meadows, Queens, where several students had gone to Mexico on spring break. The flu spread rapidly there, infecting hundreds of students within days, though all have since recovered. Anxious New Yorkers, many without any symptoms, taxed hospital emergency rooms, and bought up supplies of hospital masks and Tamiflu from neighborhood pharmacies.
The mayor — who was joined at the City Hall news conference on Thursday night by the city’s health commissioner, Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, and the schools chancellor, Joel I. Klein — began by acknowledging that the new outbreak was somewhat unexpected.
“I am about to make an announcement that I had hoped we could avoid,” Mr. Bloomberg said. But he added the public health system had been effective in detecting the outbreak, and “we are acting as promptly as the evidence requires us to do.”
Gov. David A. Paterson, who also joined the mayor Thursday night, urged the public “to remain alert rather than alarmed,” And said Mr. Wiener “is in our prayers.”
Jessica Scaperotti, a spokeswoman for the health department, said that 178 New York City residents had tested positive for swine flu as of Thursday, but that the number was deceptive because the city had scaled down its testing efforts as the symptoms in most people turned out to be mild and not much different from seasonal flu. The city continued, however, to look for patterns.
Teachers were visiting Mr. Wiener’s wife and three sons Thursday night at the hospital’s intensive care unit. “He’s fighting for his life,” said one of Mr. Wiener’s sons, who declined to give his name. His colleagues said he was a popular and effective school administrator.
A neighbor of Mr. Wiener said that his wife, Bonnie, had said her husband was sick with swine flu as early as Tuesday. The neighbor, Donna Nieves, said she had seen Ms. Wiener in the laundry room about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, and Ms. Wiener said, “Oh, oh, Mitch is so sick with swine flu; half the school’s shut down because everyone’s getting sick.”
Ms. Nieves said she came back to the laundry room with disinfectant wipes and began wiping down the washers and dryers, saying to Ms. Wiener, “I’m sorry, I just can’t afford to get sick.” She said that was the last time she saw her. On Wednesday morning, a neighbor told Ms. Nieves that Mr. Wiener, wearing a surgical mask, had been taken away by ambulance.
Kvon Williams-Sparks, 13, an eighth grader at I.S. 238, said that he had noticed that janitors were cleaning the rest rooms more often, and that Mr. Wiener had not been at work since Monday. “On Monday, I found a notice in the library that said, ‘If you are sick, you should stay home,’ ” Kvon said. “But nobody has otherwise talked to us.”
Asked if the city had let its guard down too soon, Mr. Bloomberg replied: “Most people haven’t come down with it. You’ve got to remember, we’re talking about 4,500 students here in a city of 8.4 million. It may very well be that a lot of people have it and the symptoms are so minor that they don’t even know it. That’s one of the things we’ll be studying.”

Reporting was contributed by Sewell Chan, Javier C. Hernandez, Angela Macropoulos, Mick Meenan, Kenny Porpora and Liz Robbins

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/16/ny...pagewanted=all

[HenryN]

Originally Posted by Florida1

Gout is an autoimmune disease. This has ramifications for host response if they are listing this as a causative factor in the serious disease progression of 2009 H1N1 in this individual.

Mr. Bloomberg said on Thurssday night that Mr. Wiener appeared to have had some health problems that could have made him more susceptible to the virusm and colleagues and friends of the educator said said he had diabetes and sometimes walked with a cane.
But on Friday morning, the younger Mr. Wiener told The A.P. that his father’s only pre-existing condition he had “is gout, which is unrelated to complications he’s experienced now."

[thebes]

Originally Posted by Florida1

Gout is an autoimmune disease. This has ramifications for host response if they are listing this as a causative factor in the serious disease progression of 2009 H1N1 in this individual.

Gout is a metabolic disorder - antibodies aren't involved in the process. Now, and this is purely speculative, he could've been on steroids which decrease his immune response, but to say that gout alone gives him a "pre-existing condition" that makes him more susceptible to complications is ridiculous.

[Sally Furniss]

history from 1892

[sharon sanders]

from MMWR April 29, 2009 - a woman with an autoimmune disease hospitalized for 7 says - not exactly a mild case.

".Imperial County, California. A woman aged 41 years with an autoimmune illness who resided in Imperial County developed fever, headache, sore throat, diarrhea, vomiting, and myalgias on April 12. She was hospitalized on April 15. She recovered and was discharged on April 22. A respiratory specimen obtained April 16 was found to be influenza A positive by RT-PCR at the San Diego Country Health Department Laboratory, but could not be further subtyped. The woman had not been vaccinated against seasonal influenza viruses during the 2008--09 season. Three household contacts of the woman reported no recent respiratory illness...."


http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/sho...13&postcount=2

[Sally Furniss]

wikipedia

Gout is a disease hallmarked by elevated levels of uric acid in the bloodstream. In this condition, crystals of monosodium urate (MSU) or uric acid are deposited on the articular cartilage of joints, tendons and surrounding tissues. It is marked by transient painful attacks of acute arthritis initiated by crystallization of urates within and about the joints and eventually leads to chronic gouty arthritis and the deposition of masses of urates in joints and other sites, creating tophi. Gout results from a combination of prolonged elevation of uric acid and overall acidity in the bloodstream. In isolation, neither elevated uric acid nor acidity is sufficient to cause gout. ^[1]
Historically known to as the "The Disease of Kings" ^[2] or "Rich man's disease" ^[3]
Causes

Gout may be primary (including idiopathic), or secondary to (a complication of) another condition.

[edit] Primary gout

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (October 2008)

About 10% of people with hyperuricemia develop gout.^[7]
The high levels of uric acid in the blood are caused by protein rich foods. Alcohol intake often causes acute attacks of gout and hereditary factors may contribute to the elevation of uric acid, e.g. inborn errors of purine-pyrimidine metabolism. Typically, persons with gout are obese, predisposed to diabetes and hypertension, and at higher risk of heart disease. Gout is more common in affluent societies due to a diet rich in proteins, fat, and alcohol. It is not rare, however, to find gout among the poorer classes, who drink large quantities of alcohol, and whose food is insufficient in quantity and quality. This is known as "poor man's gout." ^[8][9]
When it follows as a consequence of other health conditions such as renal failure, it is often regardless of the person's lifestyle.^[10] Some studies have established a statistical connection between gout and lead poisoning,^[11] and a significant correlation between levels of lead in the body and urate excretion and gout.^[12] It is known that lead sugar was used to sweeten wine, and that chronic lead poisoning is a cause of gout,^[13][14] and condition is then known as saturnine gout, because of its association with lead (Saturnus was the alchemists' term for the metal lead).^[15]
Diuretics (particularly thiazide diuretics) have traditionally been blamed for precipitating attacks of gout because they compete at the same transporter, but a Dutch case-control study from 2006 appears to cast doubt on this conclusion.^[16]

[edit] Secondary gout

Secondary gout is a complication of other medical conditions. Medical conditions that commonly result in gout include:

• Metabolic syndrome (combining obesity and hyperuricemia)
• Leukemia

Gout also can develop as a co-morbidity of other diseases, including polycythaemia, intake of cytotoxics, obesity, diabetes, hypertension, renal disorders, and hemolytic anemia. Gout is an important complication in a minority of solid organ transplant.^[17]
Because some approved treatments for these other conditions also reduce serum uric acid, individualized treatment of gout has the potential to improve outcome.^[18]

[thebes]

http://www.nypost.com/seven/05152009...ipa_169452.htm

Friday, May 15, 2009
Last Update: 11:55 AM EDT

A day after the city abruptly closed three public schools in Queens after an explosion of new swine-flu cases, the wife of a critically ill assistant principal blasted officials for not doing enough sooner.

Bonnie Wiener, wife of Assistant Principal Mitchell Wiener, said her husband could have not fallen ill -- and ended up on a ventilator -- had the Health Department and Department of Education officials closed IS 238 in Hollis sooner.

"They're trying to make him into a sick, old man," Bonnie Wiener told The Post this morning.

She said her 55-year-old husband -- who has the most severe illness in the city from the virus to date -- had told officials last week that the school should be closed.


Bonnie Wiener said the city "lulled us into a false sense of security" when it came to the swine fever outbreak.

Contrary what Mayor Bloomberg reported yesterday, he does not have a preexisting condition, she said Wiener only suffers from controlled high blood pressure and is otherwise in good health.

"He's doing very badly," Bonnie Wiener, a reading teacher at the same school her husband works, said. "He's in critical, critical condition. It's a nightmare I can't wake up from."

The city did eventually take forceful action and closed the schools -- which affects nearly 4,500 students at Wiener's school, along with PS 16 in Corona and IS 5 in Elmhurst -- a stark reversal from what appeared to be waning concern citywide about the virus.

Wiener's kids also came to their father's defense, saying he's not a sick man.

"He does not have any diabetes and does not have any heart issues," said Adam Wiener, 23. "It was very rough last night... He's still in critical condition. I believe it all to be caused by swine flu."

Adam Weiner said because his father has infections in his lungs and has pneumonia, doctors could not inject him with the swine flu medication.

"The level of oxidation of his lungs are low... He does have kidney failure. We are not hopeless yet," he said.

By last night, a total of 178 confirmed cases of swine flu had been diagnosed in the city since it first hit last month.

On Thursday, Bloomberg stressed that officials didn't shut schools until they saw "a large cluster."

"There's always a certain percentage [of kids] that are sick, and you would close all your schools every day all year round -- and you have to wait until it gets abnormal, and then do it," he said.

"We're always looking for unusually high levels of flu-like illness, and we found that here at these three public schools," added Dr. Isaac Weisfuse, a city deputy health commissioner.

The three Queens schools will remain shut for at least five days.

[Skatman]

Since there is some relationship between kidney failure and gout. From this we can't be sure if it is a result of gout or H1N1.

"I believe it to be all caused by swine flu, with infection in his lungs and pneumonia, as well as kidney failure so they can't inject the swine flu medication," the 23-year-old said.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/...xzz0FanzLaN3&B

[Blue]

Perhaps the patient and his family were not aware that he had gout. It is possible that they were not aware of this if he never had an attack before, and if his uric acid level was never tested. Of course, now they are testing him every way but Sunday.

They should ask his doctors if this is a new diagnosis.

[Dark Horse]

Originally Posted by Blue

Perhaps the patient and his family were not aware that he had gout. It is possible that they were not aware of this if he never had an attack before, and if his uric acid level was never tested. Of course, now they are testing him every way but Sunday.

They should ask his doctors if this is a new diagnosis.

One of the news articles mentioned that his co-workers had seen the man walking with a cane once and awhile. That fits with gout. My father had gout and when he had an attack, he had to walk with a cane to keep painful pressure off his foot.