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NY1.com Updated 05/16/2009 07:14 PM
Rikers Island Flu Case Confirmed As H1N1
By: NY1 News
A Rikers Island inmate was confirmed by city health officials Saturday as the latest case in the resurging H1N1 flu outbreak.
A male inmate who arrived on April 18 at Rikers Island's Ann M. Kross Center complained of flu-like symptoms on Wednesday. He was taken to Elmhurst Hospital, where he was being treated in isolation as of late Saturday, according to the Department of Correction.
A DOC spokesperson said the inmate's condition was not serious, there were no other reported cases of H1N1 flu in city jails and no new inmates were sent to the Kross Center, a facility that holds about 600 prisoners.
Correction officers took extra precautions Saturday, wearing masks and keeping the affected quarters off-limits for visitors. The other inmates, correction officers and staff were examined and the jail was sanitized.
However, since late Friday, President Norman Seabrook of the Correction Officers Benevolent Association had asked for the immediate closing of the Kross Center.
"This is a very serious issue and it deserves the attention of everybody in the DOH and we should make sure that our members are treated just as fairly," said Seabrook on Friday. "They go home to their families, they go home to their children, and we have to make sure that this epidemic does not spread."
Meanwhile, some local elected officials called for more transparency about the H1N1 flu outbreak Saturday.
There are now six closed city schools that are scheduled to reopen on Friday, May 22 - five in Queens and one in Brooklyn. The schools are undergoing thorough cleanings, including the disinfection of desks, tables, floors and doors.
Only one closed school - I.S. 238 in Hollis, Queens - has confirmed cases of H1N1 flu. The school closed on Thursday after health officials confirmed that four students and one faculty member had the virus.
Queens Councilman Eric Gioia said the city needs to do a better job informing the public on possible school closings, and asked the city to release the protocol for deciding which schools to close, as well as real time attendance records and school H1N1 test results.
He said public disclosure would help prevent widespread panic.
"We need to hear the facts, we need to hear them as fast as possible so that we have the information to make decisions to protect our children and to protect our families," said Gioia.
Teachers' union officials said they provided city officials with a list of schools with high absentee rates, which included the schools that were closed.
However, DOH officials said on Saturday that they are the ones who monitor flu-like symptoms in all city schools and evaluated them on a "case-by-case" basis.
Assistant Principal Mitchell Wiener of I.S. 238, who suffered the outbreak's most severe case to date, remained in critical condition at Flushing Hospital on Saturday. Family members said he was suffering from kidney failure and a lung infection.
The school in Hollis, Queens was closed Thursday after Wiener, along with four students, tested positive for the flu.
Weiner's wife Bonnie, who also teaches at the school, said school officials wanted to close I.S. 238 as early as last week when students first came down with the symptoms.
The other five schools saw unusually high absence rates, with dozens of students showing flu-like symptoms.
At St. Francis Prep in Queens, which had the largest number of H1N1 cases so far in the city, students finally sat down to take SAT tests on Saturday.
The aptitude tests were scheduled for May 2, but were postponed when classes were canceled because of the flu.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg and outgoing City Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden reminded New Yorkers over the last few days that H1N1 cases in the city have so far been no more severe than seasonal flu.
They told residents to wash their hands frequently and for sick New Yorkers to only seek medical attention for severe symptoms or if they have pre-existing medical conditions.
Centers for Disease Control officials also downgraded its three-week-old travel warning to Mexico. The health agency said only people who are at high risk of flu complications should avoid traveling there.
Five people in the United States have died from H1N1 flu and more than 70 deaths have occurred worldwide.
NY1.com Updated 05/16/2009 07:14 PM
Rikers Island Flu Case Confirmed As H1N1
By: NY1 News
A Rikers Island inmate was confirmed by city health officials Saturday as the latest case in the resurging H1N1 flu outbreak.
A male inmate who arrived on April 18 at Rikers Island's Ann M. Kross Center complained of flu-like symptoms on Wednesday. He was taken to Elmhurst Hospital, where he was being treated in isolation as of late Saturday, according to the Department of Correction.
A DOC spokesperson said the inmate's condition was not serious, there were no other reported cases of H1N1 flu in city jails and no new inmates were sent to the Kross Center, a facility that holds about 600 prisoners.
Correction officers took extra precautions Saturday, wearing masks and keeping the affected quarters off-limits for visitors. The other inmates, correction officers and staff were examined and the jail was sanitized.
However, since late Friday, President Norman Seabrook of the Correction Officers Benevolent Association had asked for the immediate closing of the Kross Center.
"This is a very serious issue and it deserves the attention of everybody in the DOH and we should make sure that our members are treated just as fairly," said Seabrook on Friday. "They go home to their families, they go home to their children, and we have to make sure that this epidemic does not spread."
Meanwhile, some local elected officials called for more transparency about the H1N1 flu outbreak Saturday.
There are now six closed city schools that are scheduled to reopen on Friday, May 22 - five in Queens and one in Brooklyn. The schools are undergoing thorough cleanings, including the disinfection of desks, tables, floors and doors.
Only one closed school - I.S. 238 in Hollis, Queens - has confirmed cases of H1N1 flu. The school closed on Thursday after health officials confirmed that four students and one faculty member had the virus.
Queens Councilman Eric Gioia said the city needs to do a better job informing the public on possible school closings, and asked the city to release the protocol for deciding which schools to close, as well as real time attendance records and school H1N1 test results.
He said public disclosure would help prevent widespread panic.
"We need to hear the facts, we need to hear them as fast as possible so that we have the information to make decisions to protect our children and to protect our families," said Gioia.
Teachers' union officials said they provided city officials with a list of schools with high absentee rates, which included the schools that were closed.
However, DOH officials said on Saturday that they are the ones who monitor flu-like symptoms in all city schools and evaluated them on a "case-by-case" basis.
Assistant Principal Mitchell Wiener of I.S. 238, who suffered the outbreak's most severe case to date, remained in critical condition at Flushing Hospital on Saturday. Family members said he was suffering from kidney failure and a lung infection.
The school in Hollis, Queens was closed Thursday after Wiener, along with four students, tested positive for the flu.
Weiner's wife Bonnie, who also teaches at the school, said school officials wanted to close I.S. 238 as early as last week when students first came down with the symptoms.
The other five schools saw unusually high absence rates, with dozens of students showing flu-like symptoms.
At St. Francis Prep in Queens, which had the largest number of H1N1 cases so far in the city, students finally sat down to take SAT tests on Saturday.
The aptitude tests were scheduled for May 2, but were postponed when classes were canceled because of the flu.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg and outgoing City Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden reminded New Yorkers over the last few days that H1N1 cases in the city have so far been no more severe than seasonal flu.
They told residents to wash their hands frequently and for sick New Yorkers to only seek medical attention for severe symptoms or if they have pre-existing medical conditions.
Centers for Disease Control officials also downgraded its three-week-old travel warning to Mexico. The health agency said only people who are at high risk of flu complications should avoid traveling there.
Five people in the United States have died from H1N1 flu and more than 70 deaths have occurred worldwide.