Flu exposure, chronically ill, see doctor

NEW YORK, May 18 (UPI) -- People with conditions such as diabetes, emphysema and asthma who have been exposed to someone with flu should see a doctor, New York health officials advise.

"Flu spreads, and that is what the H1N1 virus is doing. While the symptoms of H1N1 (swine origin) flu seem to resemble those of seasonal flu so far, the H1N1 virus appears to be spreading more rapidly at this time," Dr. Thomas Frieden, health commissioner of New York City and director-to-be of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a statement. "Only time will tell how far, wide and long it will spread."

Frieden and Joel I. Klein, schools chancellor, recommended closing three more schools, -- making the total number of schools closed due to the H1N1 flu to 16, ABC-TV news reported. The number of children currently being kept from attending school in New York City due to influenza is more than 3,200.

"We are now seeing a rising tide of flu in many parts of New York City," Frieden said. "With the virus spreading widely, closing these and other individual schools will make little difference in transmission throughout New York City, but we hope will help slow transmission within the individual school communities."

Mitchell Weiner, 55, an assistant principal at Susan B. Anthony Intermediate School in Queens died Sunday.