Apr 27, 2009 6:20 pm US/Eastern
Swine Flu Cases In NYC Rises To 28
NYC Official: 20 More Cases Confirmed, With An Additional 17 Probable
Attempts Underway To Disinfect Facilities At Queens School
QUEENS (CBS) ―
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Mayor Michael Bloomberg announces the number of swine flu cases at a New York City school as risen to 28 on April 27, 2008.
CBS
Twenty-eight students at a private New York City high school have confirmed cases of swine flu and 17 more probably have it, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Monday. City officials sought to distinguish the strain of flu in New York as far less serious than the outbreak that has killed more than 100 people in Mexico.
"There are no other clusters evident in New York City," Bloomberg said. "We have seen the kind of flu that does not seem to grow and in a few days, the symptoms seem to be going away."
On Sunday, New York City officials revealed that eight students of the Queens school had positively been infected with the rare flu strain.
President Barack Obama said Monday the threat of spreading swine flu infections was "obviously a cause for concern … but it is not a cause for alarm," while customs agents began checking people coming into the United States by land and air.
The World Health Organization says there are now 40 confirmed cases of swine flu in the United States and that it "very concerned" about the disease's spread.
Meanwhile the doors at St. Francis Preparatory School were closed and classes suspended through Tuesday as workers try to eliminate any swine flu that may be inside.
Coughing, aching, fevers and upset stomachs are the symptoms that sent more than 140 students at the school to the nurse's office. Turns out eight of them had the swine flu and more cases are expected.
Over the weekend the U.S. Government declared swine flu to be a public health emergency.
Frederick Jolin, 14, is one of the infected students. "I'm feeling much better than yesterday," he said. "I think it's really scary - it's at a point anybody could get it."
The classrooms, desks, and labs at the school where 2,700 students attend are being thoroughly scrubbed with strong disinfectant - a relief to those who go to school there.
"I'm definitely staying away from people. I have the anti-bacterial foam. I'm carrying all the time," sophomore Tami Terzian said.
The outbreak of the disease that has infected a total of 20 people in the U.S. and killed 103 in Mexico is being linked to a group of friends who traveled to Mexico for spring break.
Senior Esti Lamonaca's illness started with a high fever, a cough and achy bones, just a couple of days after she returned from Cancun. By the weekend, her voice was hoarse and she was wearing a surgical mask.
"We do know some of the students from the school had a spring break in Mexico but until we actually sit down and do the real science of recording who came down with it and who went we wont be able to give you a definitive answer," Mayor Bloomberg said.
The mayor urged parents not to panic or keep their children home from school. "At this point there is no reason to cancel schools. Part of the reason is just like don't go to hospitals unless you're very sick," he said. "We're better with them in school where we can watch."
Bloomberg was scheduled to hold a press conference Monday afternoon give an update on the swine flu outbreak here in the Big Apple. On Sunday, he said health officials were looking for cases of swine flu outbreak in other parts of the City, and stressed that the cases in New York were mild and many are recovering, but also that parents of the students also had flu symptoms, "suggesting it is spreading person to person."
Senator Schumer said health officials did not find any severe cases of the disease in the United States, but warned although they were mild now, that doesn't mean they won't find severe cases later on.
Gov. David Paterson said 1,500 treatment courses of the antiviral Tamiflu had been sent to New York City; it wasn't immediately clear if hospitals were using the doses. Infectious-disease specialists, epidemiologists and disaster preparedness workers have been dispatched to New York to monitor and respond to possible flu cases.
St. Francis is the largest private Catholic high school in the nation, with 2,700 students.
The NY State Department of Health has set up a hot line number for residents who have questions about the swine influenza. That number is 1-800-808-1987.
Q&A: What Is Swine Flu?
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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