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Queens School Asst. Principal With Swine Flu On Ventilator
By
Jen Chung
Published May 15, 2009
Modified May 15, 2009
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By
Jen Chung
Published May 15, 2009
Modified May 15, 2009
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Yesterday's announcement that three schools in Queens would be closed today and next week because of the high number of flu-like symptoms from students has raised concerns from parents about the H1N1—aka swine flu—infection all over again. One parent told the Post, "We thought this whole thing was over," and her 10-year-old son added that he was "scared -- because I don't want to see any of my friends get sick."
The three schools are P.S. 16 in Corona, I.S. 5 in Elmhurst (241 students were absent yesterday) and I.S. 238 in Hollis, where assistant principal Mitch Wiener works. Wiener appears to have the most serious case of swine flu in the city; the 55-year-old is on a ventilator and four of his students have swine flu. Mayor Bloomberg suggested that Wiener had pre-existing health conditions that could make him more susceptible to the swine flu—the NY Times reports, "His colleagues and friends said he had diabetes and sometimes walked with a cane"—but his son denied that to the Post. Adam Wiener said, "He does not have any diabetes and does not have any heart issues. It was very rough last night ... He's still in critical condition. I believe it all to be caused by swine flu." He added that his father had pneumonia and therefore doctors couldn't give him medication, "The level of oxidation of his lungs are low... He does have kidney failure. We are not hopeless yet."
During yesterday's press conference, Governor Paterson said that Wiener was "in our prayers" and said, "We will continue to work closely with New York City officials to monitor the situation at these three schools and schools across our State to ensure that we are taking all necessary precautions to protect our children and families." Bloomberg reminded New Yorkers yesterday, "As we have said from the outset of the appearance of H1N1 in our City last month, we will share with New Yorkers what we know and not speculate on what we don't know," as well as that there's no proof that the swine flu is "worse than normal influenza. ... In a city of 8.4 million, there might be a lot of people who have it."
I.S. 238 students are worried for different reasons. One told the Daily News, "[Wiener] 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," while another said to WCBS 2, "I have nothing to do for the rest of the week. [This is] slowing down my academics."
Tagged
h1n1
health
mitch wiener
pandemic
queens
swine flu
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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