Mitchell Wiener, Assistant Principal of IS238 in Queens, NYC, Dies from Complication of Swine Flu, 11 Schools Now Closed in New York City

For all those people who shrugged their shoulders and said the swine flu, or H1N1, is much ado about nothing, think again. It is running through New York City like a wildfire and has claimed its first death. Mitchell Wiener, 55, assistant principal of Intermediate School 28 in Hollis, Queens, died yesterday night from complications of this deadly flu. The Department of Health said that it is bracing for more severe cases. Four students at his school tested positive for the virus, but, according to the NY Daily News, he had a bad case that shut down his kidneys and ravaged his lungs. Doctors tried to save him, even using an experimental device to expose his blood to ultraviolet rays, but that proved futile. The swine flu virus has sickened 8,480 people worldwide and killed 76, mainly in Mexico.

Wiener became the sixth person to die in the United States from the new H1N1 strain that has killed dozens of people in Mexico and has spread across the globe with great speed. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and local officials have warned the nation to brace for more deaths. Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden has warned that people who already suffer from a chronic condition such as diabetes, emphysema or asthma have to be especially careful, especially if they have been exposed to someone with the flu. They should see a doctor even if they are not sick.

There are 11 schools now closed by the Health Department in New York City. According to media reports, none of the five new schools closed Sunday has confirmed cases of the illness, but enough students were sick that officials thought it wise to shut them. It's good that the city is being proactive, but shouldn't IS238 have been closed last Monday when it was discovered that a large number of students fell ill and not four days later?