New York links 3 more deaths to swine flu*

By DAVID B. CARUSO | Associated Press Writer
    June 3, 2009

NEW YORK - Two more people from New York City and another near Syracuse
have died after contracting swine flu, health officials announced Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the number of people visiting emergency rooms with apparent
symptoms of the illness in the city has been declining since reaching a
peak May 25, and authorities said school attendance was nearly normal
after weeks of high absenteeism. But the trend does not necessarily
signal that the virus is fading.

"I think it is premature to say the outbreak is ending," said Dr. Don
Weiss, director of surveillance for New York City Health Department's
Bureau of Communicable Disease. "There have been dips before."

The department said both people who died were adults in their early and
mid 40s. They declined to identify the victims or release any further
details, citing patient privacy policies.

An adult near Syracuse was the first upstate New Yorker to die of swine flu.

Onondaga County Health Commissioner Dr. Cynthia Morrow said the patient
had underlying medical conditions. Officials did not identify the person
at the family's request. The person died recently in a hospital and the
state confirmed the death Tuesday night.

At least seven people in New York City have died after contracting the
virus _ a fatality rate that health authorities say appears to be
similar to seasonal flu strains.

At least six of the seven New York City deaths occurred in people with
health conditions known to make them particularly at risk from any type
of flu. The other death is still being investigated.

New York health authorities have stopped testing all but the sickest
people for swine flu, so the true number of cases is unknown, but the
figure is estimated to be at least in the thousands. State officials
reported 780 confirmed cases as of Tuesday.

The virus has worked itself into even rarified environments, including
the U.S. Military Academy. West Point officials confirmed Wednesday that
a person on the campus had swine flu and is recovering at home.

Since late April, more than 340 people in New York City have been
hospitalized with the flu. A preliminary analysis of 152 of those
patients suggests that asthma is emerging as the common risk factor
among people hit especially hard by the illness.

About 41 percent, or two of every five people, hospitalized with the
virus suffered from asthma, the city found. About 18 percent were under
age two; 13 percent had a weakened immune system due to another ailment
and 12 percent had heart disease.

___