NYC: "Many hundreds" of schoolchildren ill with what is "most likely swine flu."

[FourScore]

At least seven people were in U.S. hospitals with swine flu as the number of cases nationwide rose to 64 on Tuesday and a federal health official warned that deaths were likely.

Most of the nation's confirmed cases were in New York City, where the health commissioner said "many hundreds" of schoolchildren were ill with what was "most likely swine flu." The city announced 44 confirmed cases, all affiliated with a Catholic high school....

SNIP

...Mayor Michael Bloomberg said that 82 of 380 students at P.S. 177, a school for autistic children, have called in sick. A third school in Manhattan is being evaluated because students there are sick, Frieden said.

The CDC said the country has 64 confirmed cases across five states, with 45 in New York, one in Ohio, two in Kansas, six in Texas and 10 in California. At least four other cases have been reported by states.

At least five other people have been hospitalized in the U.S., including three in California and two in Texas, Besser said.

The increase is not surprising. For days, CDC officials have said they expected to see more confirmed cases — and more severe illnesses. Health officials across the country have stepped up efforts to look for cases, especially among people with flu-like illness who had traveled to Mexico.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090428/ap_on_re_us/us_swine_flu_us

[Justyce]

1. I wonder how many of those absences are because parents kept their

kids out of school to keep them from getting sick.

[Hannah Bell]

2. "called in sick" doesn't = "have the flu". There are 64 confirmed cases in the US.

No deaths, 7 (brief) hospitalizations.

Most of the cases have already recovered, & most have been "mild".

[FourScore]

4. The article clearly says they've developed symptoms...

"hundreds of St. Francis Preparatory students had developed symptoms consistent with swine flu"

[Hannah Bell]

5. 44 cases confirmed at st francis. yesterday i believe it was 40.

[Justyce]

6. Wow, very scary.

I just read the snippets and didn't click the link earlier, but that's very scary.

[FourScore]

3. delete

dupe