Swine flu fears close schools in NY, Texas, Calif

Associated Press ^ | 4/27/09 | KAREN MATTHEWS

[Braak]

sti Lamonaca's illness started with a high fever, a cough and achy bones, just a couple of days after she returned from a spring break trip on the beach in Cancun with friends. By the weekend, her voice was hoarse and she was wearing a surgical mask.

The 18-year-old senior was one of a dozen students from several New York City high schools who traveled to Mexico earlier this month, and she thinks she has swine flu. Health officials have confirmed that eight students from her school have been infected with the strain, which has caused a deadly outbreak in Mexico. And they predict the number will grow once additional students, including Lamonaca, are tested.

Authorities in the United States have confirmed 20 cases of swine flu.

[CottonBall]

Not if they've looked at the work. Do they talk to the kid, know what books are being read?

You'd be amazed - oh well, sadly, probably not - at the number of parents that don't participate in their children's education. I mean, beyond expecting a certain level of GPA. I know of many, many, many parents that don't even know what specific classes their kids are taking!

[CottonBall]

Parents cannot trust public schools (or any schools).

Many private schools are no better than public. After all, their teachers and administrators are all trained in the same way. And if they want tuition money, they have to let in kids from public school every year. If they're so far ahead of the public schools, this won't happen and they'll lose the revenue.

[FarRightFanatic]

I’m worried about it. We have a crap ton of illegals here in MN and we had lots of kids head to Mexico for Spring Break. Many children of these illegals attend school with my kids, too.

In our house, we’ve been sick with some sort of virus for a while now, just can’t seem to shake it. Now, I have to say that we usually get some sort of what we call “the crud” in the spring, but this is just never-ending. It seems like some kind of a cold, exhibiting all the normal cold/flu symptoms except the vomiting and diarrhea. And we ALL have had it.

I took my high school aged son to the dr lastnight because he had been running a fever Saturday of 103.5º, did not get out of bed, and just wasn’t himself. When he went to the dr lastnight, he wasn’t running as high of a fever and they ran a test for strep and mono. Both came back negative, but he is home from school again today. One of the first things she asked my son was if he had friends who were sick or had been sick, girlfriend, people who had been on vacation. I even asked the dr about the swine flu, were they testing possible flu patients for it, and she said, “No, not really.” Not really? What kind of an answer is that?

I just have a bad feeling about this virus.

[CottonBall]

When the scool gives out A’s, a student thinks she doesn’t have to work any harder.

You've got that exactly right George. First, the term 'gives'. That's pretty much what schools do these days. Second, the entitlement attitude is rampant in our schools. Students are taught the liberal mindset of they deserve something for nothing - including grades. Hardly anyone is failed these days - they get to make up work, turn in 'projects', or at the worst, attend a very short summer session in which they do even less work than during the school year!

You're not alone. But at least you didn't waste thousands of dollars! I taught at an expensive private school here in Bakersfield briefly. One of the counselors was telling me that a very high percentage of the seniors had to take remedial math and english when they went to college. Their SATs were just about average. But everyone make As! (er...were given As, as you said).

[DvdMom]

SOUTH DAKOTA: The state has two suspected cases of swine flu, State Epidemiologist Lon Kightlinger said Monday. Test samples from those two adult patients are being sent to the state health lab in Pierre for testing and should be available Tuesday, Kightlinger said. The two recently traveled to Mexico. “We are now casting a very wide surveillance net for swine flu in South Dakota,” he said. “This certainly is a fast-changing situation ...

[BlueStateBlues]

Remember, and I’ll probably mention this a lot in the weeks to come, if you catch this flu or any cold, drink lots and lots of water. Even when you don’t feel like drinking because it will make you vomit, drink water. Would save many lives if everyone sick did it.

Maybe this is a distraction, but that’s good when it comes to the focus on torture. The more attention off of that in the next weeks the better.

[Choose Ye This Day]

The tinfoil mad hatters at DU are already suggesting that this is a man-made (read “Republican-made”) virus that was released at precisely this time in order to divert attention from “torture” memos.

[calex59]

You are an idiot then. Because until recently most parents trusted schools. This parent was not guilty of any wrong doing but you and the original poster are guilty of being a**hats!

[Marine_Uncle]

Tonights news indicated that the kids from the NY school effect had just returned from Mexico.

[Munz]

thanks

[lainie]

He was so sick he arrived at the airport and went straight to the hospital? gee ... And the recirculated air means the entire flight should be on Tamiflu.

[lainie]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_swine_flu_outbreak

Wiki is trying to keep up. Yeah, I know, it’s wiki, but at least we can see updates before they remove & whitewash them.

[OrangeHoof]

Another outbreak of swine flu was reported yesterday as people felt fatigue, nausea, headaches and vomiting after being exposed.

But enough about Jeannine Garafalo's latest mind-numbing rant, there are some other serious health risks out there...

[calcowgirl]

If I recall, when I was younger and through most of my life the "flu" was too common and I was hit several times with it. Now we are all going to die because of it unless we become hermits to survive?

Swine and Avian flus aren't any old influenza viruses. Many humans don't have the ability to fight it off. In fact, it hits stronger people harder as their immune systems go haywire.

In 1918, this type of flu killed 40 million people. I was reading some articles today from that time period. It started in Asia, then hit Europe in about May. It took until Oct-Dec 1918 to hit hard in the United States. Schools, parks, theatres and other public venues were all shut down. Cities were quarantined. The U.S. military was hit hard -- they were also quarantined in many locations.

Our country can't afford to duck and cover in unison because of fear.

I agree that people should not react out of fear or panic, but awareness and caution would be an appropriate response, IMO.

[Dianna]

You are an idiot then. Because until recently most parents trusted schools. This parent was not guilty of any wrong doing but you and the original poster are guilty of being a**hats!

Until recently? How long ago was No Child Left Behind passed? And we all knew there were problems well before then.

It is clear that all parents need to be on top of their kids grades AND the content the kids are being taught. That IS necessary. Does it always happen? No. I'm not always on top of my stuff either.

The parent was lax. And given his situation it is understandable.

[DvdMom]

Ping

[Freedom2specul8]

If the flu is airborne (all variations are right?) It should work? Did he say why they won’t work?

[Freedom2specul8]

Whoa, I think that reporter answered his own question if what he reported is true.

[Centurion2000]

If the flu is airborne (all variations are right?) It should work? Did he say why they won’t work?

Yes it should HELP not completely prevent. What it would also do is raise the average citizen's awareness level regarding a disease threat and make everything seem 'not normal' .... which is verboten according to the idiots in the federal governement.

[EnquiringMind]

Isn’t that what happens (cytokine storm) when a person turns septic from hospital related bacterial infections, pneumonia, etc.? Very serious. Also, on a much less severe level, cytokines affect the body in auto immune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis.