NEW YORK - The high school with the largest cluster of swine flu cases in the United States prepared to reopen Monday while scattered cases of the flu continued to emerge around the state.
St. Francis Preparatory School in Queens was to open for the first time in a week after a thorough cleaning. The school's 45 confirmed cases of swine flu constitute the bulk of the confirmed cases in the city.
Upstate, health officials in Syracuse said Sunday that that city's Ed Smith Elementary School would close for a week because of a probable case of swine flu involving a student with a connection to St. Francis.
The Onondaga County case brings the total number of “probable or confirmed” cases of the illness outside of New York City to 17, according to state health officials.
The Deer Park Union Free School District on Long Island announced Saturday it was closing until May 10 because three students had probable swine flu cases.
As many as 1,000 New Yorkers are believed likely to have
contracted swine flu in the past few weeks, the city's health department said. The majority of those victims were connected to St. Francis.
There is one confirmed case not associated with the outbreak at the preparatory school, the city's health department said.
New York City's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene invited several reporters on a tour of the department's lab on Sunday to spotlight the diligent work that scientists and lab technicians are performing to test flu samples.
Sara Beatrice, the director of the public health lab, said 175 samples have been tested since the virus emerged. One test that takes only about half an hour determines whether a sample is influenza type A or B or neither, and a more sophisticated test that takes five and a half hours can determine whether a sample is probably H1N1, or swine flu.
If the half-hour test shows type A flu - which includes swine flu - that gives health officials a head start in surveying other potential victims, Beatrice said.
Starting this week, the lab will be able to pinpoint the H1N1 virus specifically, thanks to a shipment Saturday from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the reagents needed to perform that test.
As of Saturday the city said it had confirmed 62 cases of the virus in the city.
All of the cases have been mild, with the symptoms of the virus resembling those of seasonal flu - fever, cough, sore throat, body aches and chills.
There have been no deaths in New York City.
AP-ES-05-03-09 2002EDT
Upstate, health officials in Syracuse said Sunday that that city's Ed Smith Elementary School would close for a week because of a probable case of swine flu involving a student with a connection to St. Francis.
The Onondaga County case brings the total number of “probable or confirmed” cases of the illness outside of New York City to 17, according to state health officials.
The Deer Park Union Free School District on Long Island announced Saturday it was closing until May 10 because three students had probable swine flu cases.
As many as 1,000 New Yorkers are believed likely to have
contracted swine flu in the past few weeks, the city's health department said. The majority of those victims were connected to St. Francis.
There is one confirmed case not associated with the outbreak at the preparatory school, the city's health department said.
New York City's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene invited several reporters on a tour of the department's lab on Sunday to spotlight the diligent work that scientists and lab technicians are performing to test flu samples.
Sara Beatrice, the director of the public health lab, said 175 samples have been tested since the virus emerged. One test that takes only about half an hour determines whether a sample is influenza type A or B or neither, and a more sophisticated test that takes five and a half hours can determine whether a sample is probably H1N1, or swine flu.
If the half-hour test shows type A flu - which includes swine flu - that gives health officials a head start in surveying other potential victims, Beatrice said.
Starting this week, the lab will be able to pinpoint the H1N1 virus specifically, thanks to a shipment Saturday from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the reagents needed to perform that test.
As of Saturday the city said it had confirmed 62 cases of the virus in the city.
All of the cases have been mild, with the symptoms of the virus resembling those of seasonal flu - fever, cough, sore throat, body aches and chills.
There have been no deaths in New York City.
AP-ES-05-03-09 2002EDT
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