Swine flu death toll reaches 16 in NYC

Another New Yorker has died of swine flu, bringing the city's total to 16 deaths linked to the viral strain, the city Health Department reported Friday.

The latest death occurred in a person between the age of 40 and 49, the city health department said. The agency declined further comment and has not identified those who have died, citing patient privacy concerns.

Of the 16 deaths linked to swine flu, 14 have been in people younger than 65, and 12 had an established underlying condition, the department said.

News of the latest victim comes a day after the health department reported three deaths related to the virus. The World Health Organization declared a swine flu pandemic Thursday, the fist global flu pandemic in 41 years.


Among the deaths reported Thursday was an 11-year-old Brooklyn girl who was a student at the Urban Assembly School for Criminal Justice in Borough Park, school officials said.

A school official who declined to give her name Friday said a note was sent home with students about the death. She also said Principal Mariela Graham is meeting with parents.

The school's Parent-Teacher Association declined to comment.

The city recorded its first swine flu death May 16. Since the initial outbreak in April in Queens, the city has spent $10 million in its swine flu response, which continues to invade communities across the city.

Scientists don't know how long the virus will persist or how far it will spread. Despite the deaths, health officials said most of the swine flu cases in the city have been mild and those sickened recovered within a few days.

City Council members questioned the city's response to the virus and its communicable-disease preparedness plan in a committee hearing Thursday.

Recently appointed Health Commissioner Thomas Farley said the city would be hard pressed to respond to the virus if it mutates into a more severe strain.

He was joined by other city officials who acknowledged that city hospitals and other city agencies would need assistance from the federal government and perhaps other states.




BY MICHAEL FRAZIER | michael.frazier@newsday.com