Swine Flu Closes Three Schools in NYC( Meanwhile an Arizona woman is thought...),Health

Meanwhile, an Arizona woman is thought to be the fourth fatality in the U.S.

FRIDAY, May 15 (HealthDay News) -- In a troubling sign that the swine flu outbreak has yet to run its current course in the United States, three New York City public schools were closed Thursday after dozens of flu-like infections surfaced and an assistant principal was in critical condition on a ventilator, according to published reports.

Meanwhile, a woman in Arizona who suffered from a lung condition has apparently become the fourth person with swine flu in the United States to die. The Maricopa County Health Department said Thursday that the woman, in her late 40s, died last week of what seemed to be complications from the swine flu, the Associated Press reported.

The three other people in the United States who have died from the infection also had pre-existing health problems.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Thursday that four students and the assistant principal at a Queens middle school had diagnosed cases of swine flu. More than 50 students went home sick with flu-like symptoms. At another middle school in Queens, more than 200 students were absent Thursday, and dozens more were sick at an elementary school, The New York Times and the AP reported.

The assistant principal reportedly had underlying health problems before he fell ill. The students who have taken sick in this latest round of infections seem to be experiencing mild symptoms, similar to routine flu, as has been the case for most people in the United States touched by the swine flu.

When the outbreak began more than three weeks ago, hundreds of students and staffers at St. Francis Preparatory School, also in Queens, were sickened. Reports at the time said several St. Francis students had spent spring vacation in Cancun, Mexico. Mexico is believed to be the source of the global outbreak that has now infected more than 7,0
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