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Educator is NYC's first swine-flu death

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1 of 2. A makeshift memorial for Mitchell Wiener, assistant principal at Intermediate School 238 Susan B. Anthony School, is seen outside the entrance to the school in the Queens borough of New York May 18, 2009. Wiener died of swine flu complications on Sunday night. New York recorded its first death from the H1N1 virus as the World Health Organisation (WHO) said the world may be seeing an influenza pandemic unfold.

Credit: Reuters/Shannon Stapleton

NEW YORK | Mon May 18, 2009 4:02pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A New York City school principal suffering from swine flu died on Sunday, becoming the city's first death due to H1N1 flu, medical officials said.

Mitchell Wiener, 55, died after being admitted to Flushing Hospital Medical Center several days ago with the H1N1 flu virus, said Dr. Andrew Rubin, a hospital spokesman. A city Health Department spokeswoman also confirmed a death, but could not confirm the victim's identity.

It was the first death in New York City, where many of the U.S. cases have been reported but with mostly mild symptoms.

Wiener had been in and out of consciousness and was being treated with an experimental drug, but family members had said as recently as Saturday that he was making some progress.

Wiener was the assistant principal of Intermediate School 236 in Hollis in the New York borough of Queens. The school was one of several city schools to be shuttered after the illness afflicted patients and staff members.

Three additional schools will be closed beginning Monday in Queens for up to five school days after officials documented increasing levels of influenza-like illnesses.

"Given the large number of cases, it is entirely possible that in the coming days there will be people with severe illness from flu, particularly among people who have underlying health problems," city Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden warned.

The department said it would evaluate more school closings on the case-by-case basis.

(Writing and reporting by Chris Michaud, editing by Philip Barbara)
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