Re: Buffalo NY: Two Children Critical with Swine Flu
http://www.buffalonews.com/home/story/709510.html
Updated: 06/20/09 12:50 PM
Two Buffalo school students critically ill with swine flu
By Dan Herbeck
News Staff Reporter
Two students from the Buffalo Public Schools are now in critical condition with the swine flu, Philip Rumore, the president of the city teachers union said today.
And Rumore contends that school district officials have not done enough to alert parents and district employees to the seriousness of the situation.
"I understand there are privacy regulations, and no one has asked the district to release the names of these students. That's not what we're looking for. We pray for these kids," Rumore said.
"But there are safety issues here for students, parents and employees. People need to be more aware of how serious this is, and the importance of keeping their kids home if they are ill."
Rumore said he has learned that a 15-year-old boy from the Harvey Austin School 97 and a girl from the Charles Drew Science Magnet School 59 are both in Women & Children's Hospital in critical condition with the swine flu.
Teachers and parents at the two schools were notified by the district several days ago that the two students had swine flu, Rumore said, but in his view, the district has not made people aware of the seriousness of the situation.
Those allegations were vehemently denied by a school district spokesman, Stefan Mychajliw.
Over the past two months, Mychajliw said, the district has sent at least four letters to the parents of all children in the district about the dangers of the swine flu.
And parents and staffers in schools where students have been stricken have been alerted by telephone and e-mail, said Mychajliw, who sent copies of some of the communications to The Buffalo News.
"I'm blown away that anyone could make the accusation that we have not done enough to notify people," Mychajliw said. "We've done it again and again, and our biggest message has been telling parents, 'Don't send a sick child to school.' "
But the district cannot discuss the cases of individual students ? including the two that Rumore referred to ? because of federal health privacy laws, Mychajliw said.
A hospital spokesman, John Moscato, citing the same laws, said he could not release any information unless he gets permission from the parents of the two children.
School officials temporarily shut down the Riverside Institute of Technology after an outbreak of swine flu cases ? officially known as the H1N1 flu virus ? earlier this month.
Rumore said the district has communicated with people about the flu outbreak, but he contends that more information should be given about the life-threatening nature of the illness.
"My biggest concern is that 80 percent of our students come in on buses, and when someone who is ill gets on one of those buses, it's like a breeding ground," Rumore said. "The district needs to do more to get that word out to people."
While he did not have exact figures with him at the time he spoke to The News, Mychajliw said "at least six or seven schools" have been affected so far.
