Posted on 04/26/2009 3:38:03 AM PDT by Scanian
group of Queens high school students likely brought Mexico's deadly swine flu epidemic to the city after they went on a wild spring-break party to Cancun earlier this month.
Some seniors from St. Francis Prep in Fresh Meadows took the trip over Easter hiatus two weeks ago. Days later, an outbreak of flu-like symptoms erupted at the school, leaving about 200 kids complaining of being ill.
Yesterday, city health officials confirmed that eight students "have probable human swine influenza" after testing positive for Influenza A, which officials say causes the swine strain of disease.
"We're very concerned about what may happen," Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Frieden said yesterday.
The finding prompted city health officials to contact all New York hospitals and put them on alert for the bug.
On Friday, officials tested nine kids at the 2,700-student school after some complained of nausea, dizziness, headache and other symptoms resembling swine flu, which has already killed at least 81 people in Mexico and sickened more than 1,300.
"In every single case, illness was mild," Frieden said of the St. Francis cases, adding that no one was hospitalized.
"Many of the children are feeling better."
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Uh...why were high schoolers from Queens down in Cancun “partying” in the first place??? Were their parents THAT stupid?
Have there been any reported cases in Cancun? Odd.
Nope, just rich folks who couldn’t be bothered by their kids.
The gist of the story is that a bunch of kids in a NYC high school got what amounted to mild colds for a week. Must be a real slow news day with nothing horrific to report about the economy. They’ve got to get you to visit their site or buy their newspaper some way, why not alarmist news about public health? Sheesh!
Good thing my son’s senior trip 2 wks ago was to the Bahamas! However hubby was on business trip to Cancun at that time (&Bahamas the next week). Really seems like the world has gotten smaller. In that same 3 wk period (around Easter) I was in FL, a daughter was in TX and another daughter’s boyfriend from MN was visiting us in NY.
I guess the down side of cheap airfares is the possibility of quickly spreading these kinds of bugs. However, I still LOVE cheap airfares! Wash those hands often and stay away from sniffling people!
There could be a twenty percent mortality rate there but it wouldn't get reported. It would hurt the tourist trade.
Spring Festivus, you right-wing religious bigot bastard!
I saw a map this morning of the areas in Mexico where the concentration of reports was heaviest, and the Cancun area was practically ground zero. Perhaps the reports we have been hearing from Mexico are simply being produced in Mexico City, leading people to assume that most of the cases are in Mexico City, while the reports actually refer to cases elsewhere in Mexico.
In any case, it was interesting to see on the map that Southern Mexico, on the border with Guatemala and the area on the Gulf of Mexico, was the place where that seemed to have the most widespread incidence of this flu. It looked to me as if it had probably come into Mexico from further south. Mexico’s southern border is very hard to control because much of it is remote and jungly, and people smuggling is a big activity there. It would have been very easy for the flu to be introduced through there, either accidentally or intentionally, and spread north.
I wondered about that too as the mexican govt said no beach communities were affected. Of course they wouldn’t want to lose their tourism money. Who cares if people get infected and take it home.
I agree and have little sympathy for those who went to Mexico despite the warnings of violence.
About 50 kids from my son’s senior class went to the Bahamas two weeks ago. One of his sisters had done school sponsored trips to Scotland (with theatre group) and Disneyworld (twice for chorale competetions). His other sister did travel soccer and I sent her all over for that. I didn’t let her go to the Bahamas for her senior trip the year that Natalie Holloway went missing. But I felt the climate was safer now, and a larger group (not school-sponsored) was going this year.
Plus, he’s enlisting in the Army and shipping off to Basic Training 3 weeks after graduation. I let him go. He turned 18 in the Bahamas and I was a little concerned (the drinking age is 18 there), but you have to let them go and do the same stupid things you did. One difference is that my parents never spoke to us directly about alcohol or drugs or anything like that. These kids are fanatically against drinking & driving. (Not against drinking, however.)
I was disappointed he had drank excessively a friend’s house recently, but he came home by cab and admitted right away what happened and asked if I could drop him off in the morning to pick up the car. A little smarter than my friends 30 years ago.
Hubby went to Mexico for business and a co-worker went on vacation in last 3 wks. Warnings were mostly for the border areas. If you actually read the state dept warnings, they were really the usual: stay in the tourist areas, don’t swim alone in the rough waters, don’t get arrested buying drugs. The media attention was really totally off base on that one.
It only got so much attention because it was college and hs spring break time.
Neither hubby nor friend saw any unusual security or problems in the tourist areas. Again, the media needs you to buy their papers or visit their sites.
Well, they certainly don't care about illegal immigration.
In fact, they openly encourage it.
Why would they care about sending us their disease?
“The gist of the story is that a bunch of kids in a NYC high school got what amounted to mild colds for a week”
LOL! I came back from Cancun in 2001 and within 12 hours had a bad cold. It must have something to do with the temp change.
Interesting. My wife and I were in Guatemala three weeks ago. No signs of illness here.
Please do not reply.
You put me in stitches (An old time saying).
I laughed so hard my sides hurt.
2 minutes at least.
Guess that shows my age.
But that was the truest and funniest line I have seen in a long time.
Should have gone to Aruba, safer there (sarc.)
M.O.O.N. that spells SCARY.
Must have been a pilgrimage to the religious sites, huh?
Geeze, when I was a HS senior we took a two hour bus ride to Yosemite, spent the day and went home at dark.
I must have led a very boring life. /s
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