Swine flu claims second victim in New York City

Jessica Scaperotti, the spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene cautioned that people with chronic health conditions, who have flu-like symptoms, should seek instant medical advice.

The woman from Queens
The woman from Queens, who became New York’s second victim, had an underlying health condition that made her more vulnerable. People with prior respiratory illness, asthma, diabetes and the grossly obese are extremely susceptible to the disease.

Neither the details of the women nor the name of the hospital where she was treated was divulged.

May 17 saw the death of 55-year-old Mitchell Wiener, who had been sick for several days. The assistant public school principal was the first casualty of the virus in New York City.

Talking of the magnitude of the flu in the area, Eric N. Gioia, a Queens councilman, said, “It’s obviously a very stressful time for people in Queens. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t know someone who has gotten the flu.”

Stressing the need for education on the matter, he added, “We all want a lot more information. We feel there’s a huge disconnect with what’s going on out there with what we’re hearing from City Hall.”

The flu spreads
As of Sunday, there were 280 confirmed cases and 94 hospitalizations of swine flu in the city. The numbers suggest that the rate of infection and hospitalization is increasing. There were 68 hospitalizations as of Saturday and 57 as of Friday.

As the virus spreads, the severity of illness is likely to increase. Scaperotti warned, “As we see more cases in the community we are going to see more severe illness and possibly death.” She cautioned, “If you’re sick right now with flu, you probably have H1N1.”

Twenty schools, in and around Queens, are scheduled to reopen on Tuesday. There were closed down as a precautionary measure to prevent the spread of the flu.