Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
What Are Underlying Conditions, Anyway?
By
Jen Chung
Published May 28, 2009
Modified May 28, 2009
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Jen Chung
Published May 28, 2009
Modified May 28, 2009
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
With another school—this time, in Manhattan's Morningside Heights—closing due to high student absentee rates, worries about the swine flu continue. The NY Times tries to delve into what "underlying conditions"—something that the four swine flu victims who died had in common—actually are. Conditions like "diabetes, asthma, heart disease, lung disease, a weakened immune system and, possibly, obesity... could aggravate the effects of swine flu." The widow of Mitch Wiener, an assistant principal in Queens who was the first New Yorker to die from the H1N1 virus, told the Times, "Many, many people share the same underlying causes that my husband had, and if he’s at risk, many people are at risk," and was skeptical of the conditions playing a part in his death, "He was overweight and he was taking medicine for high blood pressure. How many people 50 and above don’t?"
Tagged
h1n1
mitch wiener
swine flu
underlying conditions
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Central Park birders, others remember 63-year-old woman killed in park
People who said they knew her described her as an artist and a familiar presence in the Ramble.
By
Charles Lane
Published Sep 28, 2026 at 7:04 p.m. ET
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
News
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
By
Arya Sundaram
A Brooklyn jail cell filled with smoke. The emergency button failed, a lawyer said.
By
Samantha Max
Crews launch tunnel machines to dig first new Hudson River rail tunnels since 1910
By
Michael Sol Warren
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .