Swine flu fears close schools in NY, Texas, Calif.

[OhioChick]

Source: AP

23 minutes ago

NEW YORK (AP) — Cleaning crews spent the day scrubbing down every desk, chair and classroom at a New York City high school. Infected students wore surgical masks as they recovered in their beds. Anxious parents woke their children at night to check their temperature.

The same strain of swine flu that was suspected in the deaths of 86 people in Mexico has infected at least eight students at a large Roman Catholic high school in Queens, and possibly more than 100.

About a dozen students from St. Francis Preparatory school apparently brought back the virus after spending a week in Cancun for spring break. All of the cases were mild.

Swine flu has been confirmed in at least 20 people in the U.S., also in Kansas, California, Texas and Ohio. Many of the victims had recently visited Mexico. The federal government declared a public health emergency to respond to the outbreak.

Officials said several schools, including St. Francis, would be closed for days. In California, St. Mel's Catholic School was closed until at least Thursday while health officials determine if a seventh grader has a flu linked to the outbreak. Near San Antonio, a high school in Cibolo was closed for at least the next week after two students caught the virus.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Sunday that many New York victims are recovering, but said that some family members of students also had flu symptoms, "suggesting it is spreading person to person."


Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jDrS0zyM9U2lh372d7r1FMjLVHrAD97QF2QO0

[havocmom]

1. hmm, how much $$ saved if summer vacation starts a month or so early?

Yeah, I am getting that cynical. And I DO take flu seriously, unlike most of my neighbors.

[Sanity Claws]

2. St. Francis Prep will be closed for two days

That's not very long. Bloomberg is urging everyone to go to school, work, etc. except if they are sick. Also urges the use of other common sense advice. It is not as dire in NYC as the news makes it sound.

[Baby Snooks]

7. The problem with the rationale...

People don't have to be sick to be able to transmit the virus - so in a day or two instead of a couple of cases there could be thousands of cases. All because Bloomberg didn't want to disrupt anything. Costs everybody including the taxpayers to shut things down. Costs the city to close the schools. Costs companies to close down. Costs producers to close down shows. Go to school, go to work, go to dinner and a show. Just wear a mask. And if you can't wear a mask or are too vain to wear one, well, don't breathe.

Of course it costs them when half the students or half the workforce falls ill. Probably costs them more. But, well, who said Bloomberg, or Obama, were particularly interested in public health? Profit is all. As are the budgets. Gotta save every dime for the next bailout!

Besides, if this turns deadly, then losing half the workforce just means that many more jobs for the unemployed, right?

Mexico set the standard for containment of the virus. The United States has set the standard for ensuring its spread.

[Sanity Claws]

8. I disagree

at least with respect to the NYC outbreak. Eight kids in one high school got the flu and, by all indications, the flu was not that bad. No one died and they have all recovered. It would be insane to shut down the city when the flu has been so ordinary.

[Mojorabbit]

19. They only tested nine I believe

There were two hundred with symptoms. I haven't read whether they all end up being tested as of the last article I read.

[uncle ray]

10. "Mexico set the standard for containment of the virus"

yet somehow it still spread here. i guess they set the standard pretty low.

as for the rest of your post, i suppose you'd shut the whole country down for a few weeks just to be on the safe side.

[Baby Snooks]

17. 1,500 cases is better than 1,500,000 cases

And that is why Mexico City shut down. Maybe it won't spread in New York City. Maybe there will only be 15 cases. Or maybe there will be 1,500. Or maybe there will be 1,500,000. Maybe it won't kill anyone. Maybe it will kill 6%. Or maybe it will be a repeat of 1918.

One thing stalking victims are told by advocates is that it's better to be paranoid than dead. Some wisdom in that.

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[KoKo]

5. Run for the Streets! We will all DIE!

It does seem to be back to the days of Duct Tape and Ashcroft/Chertoff ...we are living through. Maybe some of us are just living with "Cry Wolf" fatigue. But...it does seem a Panic like we had in the Bush days.

[Downwinder]

6. You have Sheriff Joe, he will protect you. n/t

[Baby Snooks]

9. It will happen anyway if this turns into a real pandemic....

You have to take this seriously because of what happened in 1918. An estimated 50 million people died. An estimated 60% of those who fell ill. So an estimated 100 million people fell ill. That may not seem like many people. Until you look at the world population in 1918.

It's funny until you come down with it and then become part of the fatal statistics. Hasn't happened here yet. There may only be a couple of fatalities. Or there may be a couple of thousand fatalities. Or a couple of hundred thousand fatalities. Or a couple of million. Can't happen? Happened in 1918. Quite a few die each year of flu in this country despite the supposed drugs that treat it. In reality, they aren't 100% with 100% of the population.

Someone told me earlier they will call and get a prescription for Tamiflu tomorrow so they aren't worried. Not everyone will be able to get a prescription for Tamiflu because many cannot afford the doctor or the prescription. But in the tradition of America, the tradition that has made America so great, who cares? Every man for himself!

Of course the virus may be mutating. And in a couple of days may have mutated into a strain that doesn't respond to Tamiflu. Or to anything else. And then quite a few will have wished our government had taken it seriously. Which quite honestly at this point they're not.

You don't mess around with a virus you know absolutely nothing about.

[alcibiades_mystery]

11. Yes, because medical care in 1918 is substantially the same as medical care today

:crazy:

:eyes:

[KoKo]

15. Right...we are living just like in 1918 and Amazing...."some students are recovering."

but "the virus spreads from person to person." Duh...what virus, cold, flue doesn't spread from person to person." :eyes:

[Baby Snooks]

18. Unbelievable...

People died in 1918 because the virus didn't respond to any known treatment. It appears this virus responds to Tamiflu. But the virus may be mutating. And so it may not work. Nothing may work. This is not "just another flu." This is a flu no one has seen before and a flu no one knows nothing about. And Tamiflu is not a cure-all. Neither are the other anti-virals. If they were, no one would die of flu. Quite a few do each year. This virus appears to target those who have limited immunity to flu viruses. But that doesn't mean it won't mutate and affect everyone. And have a mortality rate far greater than what we have seen so far in Mexico.

We had a vaccine last year that protected no one. Why? Because the predominant strain mutated. And so the vaccine was no longer effective.

[DLnyc]

21. Not sure about "limited immunity"

My impression is that at least one who died, and many who got sick, were in there 20's and 30's and, hence, would be expected to have relatively healthy immune system. Also, I think of highschool kids as relatively strong. Do you have other information?

[nodehopper]

25. a large number of deaths in 1918 was due to

secondary bacterial pneumonia. If you will recall, 1918 was before antibiotics. Not to trivialize this flu, as it is definitely a public health issue, but it's good to remember that many of the deaths weren't from the influenza virus itself.

[Old Hob]

23. We are no more able to kill the influenza virus today than we were in 1918.

and, as it is, influenza and RSV kill over 45,000 Americans/year (that we know about). That looks to be roughly four times as many people that die from HIV infection in America annually. A widespread outbreak of a particularly virulent strain would be bad enough. That there is no "herd immunity" to such a strain would make it worse, much worse potentially. As a health care employee who provides direct patient care to patients that live an a state where the virus has been identified, I for one will be keeping an eye out for any and all flu and cough like symptoms in my hospital and will be reporting them promptly. I believe the administration is right in taking this threat seriously.

[applegrove]

4. There is a school in Windsor, Nova Scotia that is isolating 20 or so students. 4 have tested

positive for swine flu. Students in Aukland, New Zealand too.

[Baby Snooks]

12. Quarantine doesn't do a thing...

They have no idea how many other students have it but have no symptoms or who those students have exposed and who they have in turn exposed. The incubation period is when flu is most contagious.

You have to limit exposure in the general public. You have to shut down. Which is what Mexico City has done.

[applegrove]

14. We can only hope that the version of the swine flu bug we are seeing is

as benign as it seems to be in the USA and Can.

[vaberella]

13. Apparently Repubs ripped $900 Million from Stimulus Package for Pandemic treatments.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x8372367

[KoKo]

16. Well..hopefully this is a Dem Scare to get that money reinstated...

Sad to think Dems are resorting to Panic Tactics just like the Repugs did with their "Code Color Alerts" and constant fear mongering.

[vaberella]

20. It wasn't the Dems. It's The Nation who reported on this.

I say we make it viral to show how disconnected they are with providing the necessary precautions needed for the American people.

[xchrom]

22. many don't seem to realize remnants of this virus

will be around next year.

and it may be the same virus then -- or it may be altered.

could be more virulent -- could be less.

this virus is scary and bears paying very close attention to.

[OhioChick]

24. I couldn't agree with you more. n/t