Up to 45 Swine Flu Cases Connected to NYC School

Brother Leonard Conway, Principal of St. Francis Preparatory School in Queens borough of New York,...

Brother Leonard Conway, Principal of St. Francis Preparatory School in Queens borough of New York, comments on Sunday April 26, 2009 about the closing of the school at the urging of Board of Health officials after tests confirmed that eight students at a private Catholic high school had contracted swine flu. Some of the school's students had visited Mexico on a spring break trip two weeks ago. (AP Photo/Rick Maim)

(AP)

City officials announced a rising toll of the largest cluster of swine flu cases in the nation Monday as anxious New Yorkers rushed to drug stores to buy face masks in response to a global health scare.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg stressed that the disease hadn't left a Queens school and that patients were quickly recovering, distancing it from a swine flu outbreak in Mexico that has killed more than 100 people.

"This remains an isolated incident," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said, advising New Yorkers not to buy surgical masks and saying the city was safe for tourists. "There is no reason for anyone outside of the St. Francis community to stay home."

The number of confirmed cases in New York rose from eight to 28 on Monday. The city said it has an additional 17 probable cases. All of the cases involved students, their relatives and at least one teacher from the St. Francis Preparatory School in Queens, city officials said.

More than 160 sick students were treated at the school nurse's office Thursday and Friday, and Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden said he expected more cases from the community to be confirmed. Some students received doses of Tamiflu, the medication that can help alleviate symptoms of the flu.

The rising number of cases put the city on edge. People were showing up at hospitals asking to be tested for swine flu when they had light flu symptoms. New Yorkers had depleted some pharmacies' stockpile of paper face masks by Monday morning.

"We sold several boxes today," said Gary Halpern, the pharmacist at Caligor Pharmacy in Manhattan. "At least triple what we normally sell."

St. Francis students began lining up at the nurse's office on Thursday, with aches, pains and fever. Abigail Medina-Masilang said she sat down determined to make it through an English test Thursday, when she got "really hot inside" and asked to be excused. The 17-year-old senior said a small crowd was outside the nurse's office, including one who threw up outside the door.