Swine Flu Confirmed in Queens Students

QUEENS [WABC] — New York City was dealing with a growing public health threat Sunday after tests confirmed that eight students at a private Catholic high school had contracted swine flu. Some of the school’s students had visited Mexico on a spring break trip two weeks ago.

New York officials previously had characterized the cases as probable, but Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed that it was swine flu, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.

About 100 students at St. Francis Preparatory School complained of flu-like symptoms; further tests will determine how many of those cases are swine flu.

Bloomberg stressed that the New York cases were mild and many are recovering, but said that parents of the students also had flu symptoms, “suggesting it is spreading person to person.”

He said that the virus likely came from Mexico, although that has not officially been determined.

“We do know that some of the students from the school had a spring break in Mexico,” Bloomberg said, surrounded by top city officials and members of Congress. “It is most likely to be brought back from Mexico, but nobody knows.”

Federal health officials said Sunday that 20 swine flu cases have been reported so far in New York, Ohio, Kansas, Texas and California. Patients have ranged in age from 9 to over 50. At least two were hospitalized. All recovered or are recovering.

In Mexico, health officials say a strain of swine flu has killed up to 86 people and sickened 1,400.

New York officials said the flu strain discovered in the patients here is similar to the one in Mexico, but not as severe at this point. They are still conducting tests to investigate the strain in New York.

St. Francis is the largest private Catholic high school in the nation, with 2,700 students. The school canceled classes on Monday and Tuesday in response to the outbreak.

Parent Jackie Casola said Sunday that her son Robert Arifo, a St. Francis sophomore, told her on Thursday that a number of children had been sent home because of illness. On Friday, he said hardly anyone was in school.

Casola said she expected to keep him home from school on Monday, even if it was open. He hasn’t shown any symptoms, but some of his friends have, she said, and she has been extra vigilant about his health.

“I must have drove him crazy, I kept taking his temperature in the middle of the night,” she said.

In New York, state infectious-diseases, epidemiology and disaster preparedness workers have been dispatched to monitor and respond to possible flu cases. Gov. David Paterson said 1,500 treatment courses of the antiviral Tamiflu had been sent to New York City.

The city health department has asked doctors to take extra precautions and test patients who have flu symptoms and have traveled recently to California, Texas or Mexico. Bloomberg and health officials also urged people to cover their noses and mouths when they sneeze and cough, and not to leave the house for two days after the symptoms disappear.

Investigators also tested children who fell ill at a day care center in the Bronx, but the tests came back negative. Two Manhattan families also have contacted the city, saying they had recently returned ill from Mexico with flu symptoms, New York City Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden said. Those cases were also found to not be swine flu.

Frieden said New Yorkers having trouble breathing due to an undiagnosed respiratory illness should seek treatment but shouldn’t become overly alarmed. Medical facilities near St. Francis Prep have already been flooded with people overreacting to the outbreak, he said.

“The bottom line is there is an outbreak at St. Francis school and we are monitoring that outbreak very carefully,” Bloomberg said.

Swine flu is a respiratory infection caused by influenza type A viruses that regularly cause outbreaks of influenza in pigs. People do not normally get swine flu, but human infections can occur. Human cases typically involve people who have had direct contact with pigs, but likely person-to-person transmission has now been reported in California, Texas, Mexico and New York City. Again, the cases in Mexico have had a high fatality rate, but the confirmed cases in the U.S. have been mild and all patients have recovered without treatment.

The symptoms of swine flu in people appear to be similar to the symptoms of regular seasonal flu and include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. Some people have reported diarrhea and vomiting as well. New Yorkers experiencing severe symptoms, such as difficulty breathing, should seek health care and treatment. Otherwise, the health department recommends at-home care.

The most effective way to lower the risk of influenza transmission is for people with symptoms to stay home. All New Yorkers should cover their mouths when they cough. Additional precautions:

Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are also effective.
Try to avoid close contact with sick people.
If you get sick, stay home from work or school and limit contact with others to avoid infecting them.
Swine influenza cannot be transmitted from eating pork or pork products.

For facts about influenza, and more information about swine flu, please visit the health department and CDC Web sites. Some specific resources:

From New York City Health Department

Facts about flu
http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/cd/cdinflu.shtml

From Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

General information about swine flu
http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/general_info.htm

Swine Flu Case Definitions
http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/casedef_swineflu.htm

Swine Flu Infection Control and Patient Care
http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/guidelines_infection_control.htm

Preventing the Flu
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/habits.htm