Results tagged “healthdepartment”

After opening up its weekend H1N1 vaccination clinics to priority groups beyond public school students, the Health Department gave out 15,606 free vaccines this past Saturday and Sunday (the previous weekend's clinics saw less than 4,000 people receive the vaccines). Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley told the Daily News that in spite of NYC's low infection rate, "We haven't escaped it entirely. Rates are falling in most of the country now, but they're still rising here."

Since turnout for last weekend's swine flu vaccine clinics for public school students was low, the Health Department decided to open up this weekend's clinics to other priority groups—pregnant women; anyone 4 years through 24 years of age; persons 25 through 64 with underlying health conditions that increases risk of severe illness or complications; anyone who lives with or cares for children less than 6 months old. And on the Upper East Side, at P.S. 290, the lines went for three blocks with at least a 90 minute wait.

So much for those parental consent forms! Two public school students, one in Brooklyn and one in Staten Island, were given the swine flu vaccine without signed consent forms. The NYC Health Department told the NY Times, "We are working to determine how this occurred, and to implement additional safeguards."

Since 1993, the city's Health Department has been giving out fast food restaurant coupons to TB patients, as an incentive to get them to return to clinics for six-month treatment programs. It's a bit awkward, because this is the same Health Department that's launched an aggressive, multi-pronged public health campaign to educate consumers about junk food. Start the countdown for the first lawsuit from a TB patient who contracts diabetes!

The junk food industry is going to war against the Bloomberg administration's big public health push, spending $1 million on an ad campaign asking New Yorkers, "When did the Big Apple become Big Brother?" But Bloomberg isn't sweating the industry's measly million in ads, and defended his hands-on approach to health yesterday, telling reporters, "A little impetus from the government really does improve the public health of the average person. If you want to drink sugared drinks, you're going to have a weight problem, and maybe government should tax it to keep you from doing it." And if taxes don't persuade you to put down the Big Gulp, maybe a little trip to Room 101 will do the trick.

Unhealthy food purveyors are fed up with what they see as City Hall's scaremongering about their products, so they've gone on the offensive with a $1 million nationwide ad campaign. In New York, the Center for Consumer Freedom—a "consumer advocate" front for a collective of food corporations—is asking people, "When did the Big Apple become Big Brother?" We thought it started around the time Peter Stuyvesant imprisoned people harboring Quakers, but no; the answer to that rhetorical question is Mayor Bloomberg. His Health Department is behind a number of public health initiatives, including requiring chain restaurants to display calorie info, and, most recently, a public awareness campaign against soda.

Just a few more days until the return to school comes for students across the city as medical experts anxiously await just how badly swine flu might affect the upcoming academic year. Already at Cornell University in Ithaca, 140 students have come down with flu-like illnesses in the two weeks since school has reconvened.

The American Beverage Association is more than a little defensive about the city's new public awareness campaign which depicts human fat pouring out of cola, energy drink, and sweetened ice tea bottles. The ads, which are intended to educate the public about the high caloric content of sugary beverages, debuted yesterday, and Kevin Keane, a senior vice president at the Association, was quick to run to the Post: "It's absurd and over the top and unfortunately is going to undermine efforts to educate about a serious and complex issue like obesity." Also, why does government keep picking on soda? Earlier this year Governor Paterson proposed a tax on soda, which was successfully shot down by the beverage industry. Keane wonders, "Why aren't they going after cake? Why single out soft drinks?" But Cathy Nonas at the Health Department says, "It's just horrifying to see how many preschoolers are drinking these sugar-sweetened beverages" and even abusing sports drinks: "In terms of physical activity... water is the most important thing before, during and after an event." Well, the American Beverage Association has got kids covered on that because according to their website "all BEVERAGES provide hydration." Your move, cake!

Do you enjoy soda and other delicious sugary beverages? If so, you may as well raise a cup of human fat to your lips and chug, according to a new public awareness campaign by the NYC Health Dept. The print ads depict, in graphic detail, human fat mottled with blood vessels being poured from a bottle of cola; a plastic "sports" drink bottle that looks like Gatorade; and a glass bottle of iced tea resembling Snapple, New York City's "official beverage."

Low five? The Press Ganey Emergency Department Pulse Report 2009 rated NYC last among the nation's 10 largest metropolitan areas for satisfaction in emergency-department care, and New York State was 46th in overall emergency room waiting time. South Dakota came in at #1 with an average waiting time of 172 minutes, while New York narrowly beat out New Mexico with an average of 288 minutes—nearly 5 hours. (Utah came in dead last with a 408 minute wait time.) Dr. Peter Viccellio of Stony Brook University Medical Center tells Crain's "Sometimes, we can’t even spare someone to go into the waiting area and talk to patients and tell them what’s going on." He also admits to having to relocate patients to beds in hospital corridors to make room for incoming patients. Last summer a shocking video showed a woman being ignored after she died in an ER waiting room. The silver lining for NYC? This report emphasizes patient satisfaction with wait time, not with the care they eventually receive, so let's just assume we're #1 when patients eventually see a doctor—as they say, the best health comes to those who wait.

While the city's Health Department has emphasized that cases of swine flu are declining, the Daily News reports that Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data suggests "half a million New Yorkers have been infected by swine flu." The CDC thinks there are actually 50 times more cases of swine flu than what's been reported to health authorities: "The CDC study was not based on laboratory evidence. Instead, researchers relied on mathematical modelling of surveys conducted in areas, like New York City, that have had high levels of H1N1 infections." Hmm. The Health Department had no comment; so far, the city has had 32 deaths and 804 hospitalizations due to swine flu. The next Health Department update will be on July 1.

The city's health department just wants you to be healthy, which is why you can no longer innocently order a pina colada at Pizzeria Uno while pretending it doesn't contain multitudes of calories. The latest proposal to dispel New Yorkers' ignorant bliss involves requiring any retailers selling cigarettes to display graphic warning signs (like the sample here) about the dangers of smoking, plus information on where to seek help quitting. The proposed measure would require retailers to post the warnings wherever tobacco products are displayed, and also at the cash register or point of purchase. Officials hope it will help more New Yorkers quit; according to DOH stats, tobacco-related illness kills 7,400 people in the city each year. In fact, smoking kills more New Yorkers than AIDS, drugs, homicide and suicide combined! So today the Board of Health voted to solicit public comment on the proposed amendment (which you can read here), and a public hearing will be held on July 30th. What do you think? Too graphic or not graphic enough? (And last year the Health Department unveiled a line of graphic anti-smoking matchbooks.)

Today, the Health Department announced that seven more deaths have been linked to the H1N1 virus, aka swine flu. The total number of swine flu-related deaths is now 23. From the Health Department: "Of the 20 deaths for which background medical information is available, 16 (80%) have occurred in people with established underlying risk factor for developing severe influenza or complications. The newly confirmed deaths have not all occurred during the current reporting period (June 12-16), and most involve people who were hospitalized in late May, at the peak of the outbreak." (Which means the Health Department's belief that swine flu is waning could still hold.) Newsday reports, "A young woman who had just given birth became the first apparent death from swine flu in Nassau County Tuesday... A pregnant woman between age 20 and 30 was admitted to a hospital June 5 with fever and respiratory symptoms and was confirmed to have swine flu. Her baby was delivered by Caesarean section that day and the woman was transferred to the intensive care unit two days later. She died yesterday." The baby is reportedly doing well.

The NYC Health Department released data yesterday suggesting "community transmission" of swine flu (aka H1N1 virus) is on the decline, because emergency room visits have declined: "As expected, however, hospitalizations and fatalities continue to occur. As of June 11, the Health Department had recorded 567 hospitalizations and 16 deaths. The latest death occurred in a person aged 40-49."

Yesterday, the Health Department confirmed that an eighth New Yorker died of swine flu. The victim was over age 65 and had underlying conditions that made the flu more dangerous. The NY Times reports that the underlying conditions can "include being over 65 or under 2, having respiratory or immune system problems or being obese," (previously mentioned conditions also include heart disease, pregnancy, diabetes, kidney problems, blood disorders, emphysema, liver problems). Health Department spokeswoman Jessica Scaperotti said people with the flu and underlying conditions or severe symptoms should seek medical attention, "While most of New York City’s H1N1 deaths involve people with established risk factors, influenza can be fatal in otherwise healthy people." In other news, four assistant prosecutors at the Bronx DA's office may have swine flu—none of the cases is confirmed yet but the office is being cleaned—and an inmate at Rikers filed a notice of claim against the city, because of the swine flu-prompted lockdown in his area (it's unclear if he has swine flu).

1010 WINS reports that two more New Yorkers have died from swine flu. That makes a total of seven swine flu fatalities in NYC. No details about the victims' ages or locations, but according to CityRoom, "The department said that six of the seven people who have died — including Mitchell Wiener, the Queens assistant principal, who was the first swine-flu death in the city — had underlying conditions, including obesity, that can interfere with normal breathing. The seventh death is still under investigation. The city will not release the underlying medical conditions, citing medical confidentiality were given."

After yesterday's news that an 11-week-old baby with swine flu died, the city's health department said that while the child did have swine flu, so far it's unclear whether swine flu was the cause of death; the medical examiner's office will perform more tests. And while the Daily News reported the baby's name and residence—Steven Montanez of the Bronx—yesterday, the city declined to provide the name citing privacy laws. The NY Times also reports that the ME's office confirmed that the cause of death for assistant principal Mitch Wiener was swine flu, but "tests on [Wiener] , had listed 'significant and contributing' factors: obesity and hypertensive and arteriosclerotic heart disease." (Hello, underlying conditions?) The number of confirmed swine flu cases in NYC is 538; 229 have been hospitalized.

An eleven-week-old boy in the Bronx has become the fifth swine flu fatality in NYC, according to his family. Steven Montanez's mother, 28-year-old Gissele Montañez, says her baby seemed fine when she left him in the care of her sister Thursday afternoon. But he was found dead about an hour after he fell asleep at 3 p.m. Montanez's sister tells the Daily News, "I went in to check up on him, I turned him around and he was purple. He was a completely healthy baby. The Health Department told us he died because of swine flu." (Officials at the Health Department have not yet officially confirmed that the H1N1 virus caused Steven's death.) His father, Louis Montanez, is devastated, telling the News, "I have nothing to live for anymore. You don't know how painful this is. We're going through such a bad situation right now."

As four schools are reopening today after large numbers of students (and teacher) have come down with swine flu-like symptoms, six more schools—four in Queens, two in Brooklyn—are closing. The Department of Education has finally put a list of closed schools as well as open schools with their attendance rates online— the third letter in the code represents the borough (M for Manhattan, X for the Bronx, K for Brooklyn, Q for Queens and R for Staten Island). For instance, Louis Brandeis High School in Manhattan has an attendance rate of 64% and Richmond Hill High School in Queens has one of 65%.

This morning, parents, worried about the swine flu and their children's health, held a rally demanding that their Queens public schools be shut down. Currently, there are 21 public schools and five private schools closed due to swine flu concerns. The city maintains that they are monitoring schools, but one parent told NY1 that illness could have been avoid, "My daughter came to school on Monday, she came to school very healthy and when she went home, she was crying for her throat and her head. And then an hour later, she had a high fever."

The NYC Health Department announced that the baby who died at Elmhurst Hospital Center Monday night did not have swine flu. According to the Daily News, "tests on nasal swabs taken from 16-month-old Jonathan Zamora... showed no signs of the H1N1 virus. But because a fatality was involved, 'It is necessary to take extra steps to get definitive results,' the Health Department said in a statement." The CDC will be examining specimens from the autopsy. The baby's father Zeferino Zamaro, who said his son simply became very weak and extremely feverish, told the News, "People should not panic. It's not what people think."

With the swine flu outbreak closing down a handful of schools and claiming its first local victim, Mayor Bloomberg wasted no time in naming Dr. Thomas Farley as the new commissioner of the health department. Farley will begin on June 8th once Thomas Frieden takes over his new post heading up the CDC. Farley was a safe and expected choice as an epidemics expert who has advised Frieden and may have also won over the mayor's (low in cholesterol) heart with his aggressive stance against obesity. The Daily News says Farley recently ran into some controversy with "a memo to Frieden noting an increase in syphilis and HIV infection among gay men and suggesting the city 'reevaluate' its policies on gay bathhouses and other venues where men have sex with men." As for the swine flu situation, a twelfth school has shut its doors because so many students were sick. However, Upper East Side St. David's, a Catholic school for boys, closed voluntarily with the mayor saying, "They chose to close, we did not recommend they close."

Word is that infectious disease specialist Dr. Thomas Farley is set to become the city's new health commissioner. In recent years, Farley was a senior adviser to Dr. Thomas Frieden, who has left his post in order to head up the Center for Disease Control. The mayor is expected to make the announcement tomorrow. On Friday, Bloomberg said, "I didn't want this city, particularly at a time when you have H1N1 on people's minds, to go without a health commissioner." Currently six city schools are closed due to swine flu. Farley, the current chairman of the Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, co-authored a paper with Frieden titled “Public Health in New York City, 2002-2007: Confronting Epidemics of the Modern Era." Former health official told the Times, “Tom Farley is a really top-notch epidemiologist and a really, really well-respected public health official. He has a lot of interest in addressing the issues that are causing people to have poor health.”

Last week, six schools were closed last week due to high numbers of students having swine flu-like symptoms. Now, teachers union the United Federation of Teachers says 18 other schools have had high numbers of absent students—and that the Health Department should monitor them for possible closure.

NYC's confirmed swine flu—aka the A(H1N1) flu—cases remains at 49; NY1 reports that 47 of the cases are related to St. Francis Prep in Queens. They are recovering or have recovered, but some worried New Yorkers have been flooding ERs. A doctor at Montefiore told WCBS 2, "There are some people who are bringing in their children who might not be ill, but are sitting next to someone who might be ill. And then three days from now or four days from now that child actually will be ill." Still, practicing good hygiene (wash those hands! cover your coughs!) is still important and Archbishop Timothy Dolan suggested that Catholics might not want to take Communion wine or shake hands with others during mass. Overall, the CDC says there are 160 confirmed cases of A(H1N1) in the U.S. and worldwide the WHO is reporting 615 cases. In Hong Kong, a hotel is locked down after a Mexican businessman was confirmed with the swine flu; a masked hotel guest put up a sign to tempt journalists, "We will exchange information for beer and food and cigarettes."

Yesterday Mayor Bloomberg confirmed that swine flu has hit New York, and the federal government declared a national public health emergency. The current outbreak is believed to have originated in Mexico, where the virus is suspected to have caused 81 deaths and 374 hospitalizations as of yesterday. The eight confirmed cases in New York are all from St. Francis Prep in Fresh Meadows, where some students recently returned from spring break in Mexico.

Update, 1:20 p.m.: The Obama administration has declared a "public health emergency" with further cases of swine flu expected to emerge. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano called the declaration of a public health emergency "standard operating procedure."

The Health Department is conducting tests to determine whether swine flu has found its way into our area after 75 students at a Queens high school turned up sick with potential symptoms for the virus. Students from St. Francis Prep in Fresh Meadows are being tested after dozens have reported nausea, fever, dizzyness, aches and pains. One student told NY1, "My chest is really tight, it feels like a 20-pound baby is sitting on my chest. I have shortness of breath, I can't even walk up the steps, and as you can hear I'm stuffy and my coughing is getting really bad."

Several NYU dining halls were just points away from being shut down by the Health Department after inspections, and the sanitary conditions have greatly deteriorated at the 13 cafeterias listed on the DOH website. The only dining hall that improved was the Hayden Dining Hall, but that's not saying much: It only dropped from 27 violation points to 26—28 is the dirty magic number that gets an eatery shut down. It seems the big problem is vermin, which multiplied because of "the severity of construction in and around NYU, which creates movement and migrations," says Director of Dining Services Owen Moor. Speaking to the Washington Square News, one cafeteria worker was more blunt: "The building is infested with rats, so there isn’t much we can do personally about that." Senior Anisha Noble sums up the student perspective: "That is disgusting." Totally. It's a miracle the students who recently occupied the Kimmel Building cafeteria survived without having their stomachs pumped: Not only did the dining hall tie for second-worst (24 points), but it was also cited for serving food with artificial trans-fat. No wonder they were so outraged!

Offices, department stores, city buildings and restaurants may be getting a little chillier soon with the Health Department's proposal to lower the minimum required temperature from 68 degrees to 65. Of course, tenants of those buildings would have to agree to any such change—many properties set the minimum temperature at 70 in their leases. The city agency is trying to sell the drop as not only friendly to the environment, but a way to save money. That might not be enough, with the president of the Real Estate Board of New York telling the News, "What is needed is more energy-efficient retrofitting - more efficient windows, for example, so heat doesn't escape." With the climb towards warm weather underway (knock on wood), might we see another round of battling between the city and businesses who insist on blowing cool air out their front doors on hot summer days?