Posted on 05/17/2009 5:01:08 PM PDT by neverdem
The assistant principal of a Queens school who had been hospitalized with swine flu died on Sunday evening. It was the first death in New York State from the outbreak and came as city officials announced that five more Queens schools had been closed.
The assistant principal, Mitchell Wiener, had been “overwhelmed” by the illness despite treatment with an experimental drug, according to Ole Pedersen, a spokesman for Flushing Hospital Medical Center, where Mr. Wiener had been a patient since last Wednesday.
Mr. Pedersen said that Mr. Wiener, the assistant principal of Intermediate School 238 in Hollis, one of the schools closed last week, had been on a ventilator and had slipped in and out of consciousness during his illness.
The closings announced on Sunday followed a sharp rise in the number of students at the schools who have fallen ill with flulike symptoms, brings the number of shuttered schools to 10 in Queens and one in Brooklyn...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I hope they do an autopsy.
I, too hope they do an autopsy. However, one death among the millions that live in New York doesn't seem unduly concerning to me.
Wonder if they have Mayor Bloomburg in custody yet. His entire reputation was riding on this guy’s death Fur Shur.
Medical records are of course private, but if the good principal was previously immuno-compromised, he would be at much higher risk of death, and thus might be indicated for experimental treatment.
We’ll never know.
CDC reports that regular flu ‘kills’ thousands each year in the US. That this gentleman died is tragic, but not surprising.
“the number of influenza-associated (i.e., flu-related) deaths varies from year to year because flu seasons often fluctuate in length and severity. CDC estimated that about 36,000 people died of flu-related causes each year, on average, during the 1990s in the United States. This figure includes people dying from complications of flu. This estimate came from a 2003 study published in the Journal of the American Medication Association (JAMA), which looked at the 1990-91 through the 1998-99 flu seasons [10]. Statistical modeling was used to estimate how many flu-related deaths occurred among people whose underlying cause of death on their death certificate was listed as a respiratory or circulatory disease. During these years, the number of estimated deaths ranged from 17,000 to 52,000.”
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/disease/us_flu-related_deaths.htm
I need the running onoz ...
Suspect seriously compromised patient in this case, likely immuno-compromised.
My friend happened to meet Mr. Wiener’s family physician yesterday. According to the family doc Mr. Wiener had no compromising pre existing conditions, none.
Really. "Overwhelemed by the illness? "An experimental drug?"
NY Times will never mis an opportunity to leverage an innuendo.
in theory.
The deceased man’s 23 year old son had stated last week that his father’s only pre-existing health condition was the gout.
I heard on the new that the principal of this school checked himself into the hospital.
The family physician or hospital staff is not allowed to reveal any info about the patient without the permission of the patient or their designated representative.
Thanks for the explanation & link!
He was on a ventilator and his kidneys failed, his lungs filled up with fluid.
I’m worried about the second wave.
My mother was talking to my cousin in CO today. My cousin’s daughter and granddaughter were actually quarantined for a week in their house.
Thanks for the feedback. That's what I was fearing.
And NY’s health commissioner refused to close the schools in the face of mounting cases of swine flu.
That is until the media learned of this man’s critical condition in the hospital.
He came under plenty of criticism from the parents.
And now, no surprise here, this same health commission is joining the Obama administration.
The mayor said Thursday that the assistant principal, Mitch Wiener,
may have had pre-existing health problems — but on Friday, Wiener's
son Adam said his father had only suffered previously from gout,
which he said was unrelated to his current condition. He said his
55-year-old father is now suffering from pneumonia, kidney failure,
dehydration and a lung infection.
Kidney failure can be caused by Indocin, or any NSAID, particularly when combined with other drugs, and/or dehydration.
The Health Commish should have closed the schools. I know my JHS in Wooodside has been sending home ten kids a day. But the driving force was and is Bloomberg. Bloomie said yesterday that the kids need “More school. Not less.” He decided to keep schools open on the grounds that though widespread the flu was mild. Now that a man has died he will try to blame either the man’s prior health or his not seeking medical help soon enough. Bloomberg is NEVER wrong and NEVER apologizes.
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