New York, NY –
Two more people have died -- bringing the total to seven -- and more than 300 have been hospitalized from H1N1, or swine flu. WNYC’s Fred Mogul has more.
The city's Health Department says one of the seven deaths remains under investigation, but the other six were people officials say had “underlying conditions.” That broad category includes the extremely old or young, pregnant women, and those with chronic illnesses including heart disease, HIV, asthma or diabetes.
About 2000 New Yorkers die of seasonal flu state-wide each year. Of those hospitalized locally with severe flu symptoms, four out of five also had “underlying conditions.” Asthma has been the most common factor.
Also, ER visits are down from the peak two weeks ago, but are still higher than normal. For WNYC, I’m Fred Mogul.
Fred Mogul has been covering healthcare and medicine for WNYC since 2002. His beat takes him to hospitals, community clinics, doctors offices, health agencies, public schools and research labs across the metropolitan area. His work has appeared on NPR and in the New York Times, Time magazine and Philadelphia Inquirer, among others.
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