Make Grand Empty Promises First, Ask Questions Later

A good idea, until it became clear no one could possibly do it:

Health and education officials canceled a recommendation yesterday that called for scrubbing schools daily in the wake of the “superbug” scare, but admitted they don’t have a concrete plan to handle new infections.

News of the death of Omar Rivera, a 12-year-old Brooklyn boy, of an antibiotic-resistant staph infection prompted both agencies to send out a joint advisory last Friday.

It called for all schools to “clean ‘flat surfaces’ every day. This includes desktops, cafeteria tables, door knobs, toilet seats, sinks and drinking fountains.”

But speaking on WNYC radio yesterday, Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden said washing every school desk every day isn’t needed to stop the spread of methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, commonly known as MRSA.

The desk-cleaning advisory was removed from the Department of Health’s Web site.

“It was an error on the part of the department, and when it was brought to our attention, we removed it,” Frieden later told The Post.

And now you tell us:

Frieden further downplayed worries about MRSA. He noted that the only place it spreads in schools is on sports teams, and that regular hand-washing is the best prevention.

“I think the only thing close to reaching epidemic proportions here is fear,” he said.

That Was Scary Fast

The super-resistant staph infection that recently crossed state lines is here:

New York City health officials said yesterday that a Brooklyn middle school student who died on Oct. 14 had become infected with a virulent, drug-resistant strain of bacteria that is primarily spread in hospitals but that in recent years has surfaced increasingly in schools, gyms and other nonhospital settings.

The health officials, who said they were investigating the circumstances of the case, were unable to confirm whether the student contracted the infection at the school, Intermediate School 211 in Canarsie. The school remained open yesterday, and the officials said that school health officials would make any decision to close it.

The Mosquito That Never Sleeps Comes To The Right Place

It may not be the killer bee, but it has the potential to be a lot more annoying:

They’re aggressive, often attack in packs and, unlike most mosquitoes, bite during the day.

And they’re carriers for such debilitating tropical diseases as chikungunya, yellow and dengue fever. They can carry dog heartworm and different types of encephalitis.

The Asian Tiger mosquito has landed on Staten Island. And although the 2007 season is winding down (the first frost will kill most remaining bugs), its presence could be felt even stronger after eggs from this year’s mosquitoes hatch come spring, experts say.

First spotted here in 1997, the white-striped insect scientifically known as Aedes albopictus, has become increasingly prevalent in the borough, causing experts to fear consequences more severe than from West Nile virus.

. . .

Typically, mosquitoes belonging to the Culex family are found in the New York area. The Culex salinarius and Culex restuans, which carry the feared West Nile virus, generally bite around dusk and after dark.

But the Asian Tiger mosquito bites in the middle of the day and, often, several will bite humans at the same time, leaving welts the size of dimes. Besides having disease-carrying potential, the pests can affect quality of life for people who like to be outdoors, Gaugler said. The Asian Tiger mosquito is ranked among the 100 most invasive species on the planet.

The Methamphetamine Epidemic Comes Next

The staph infection that had stayed away from the city but which showed up in Fairfield County this past week inches even closer and crosses into New Rochelle:

Ten members of the Iona College football team have been infected with the so-called superbug MRSA, health officials said on Friday.

The most severely affected student athlete was hospitalized for a few days, and eight other team members and a coach received outpatient treatment, Iona spokeswoman Cecelia Donohoe said.

All the cases have been caught early and were mild, “a pimple or a boil,” she said.

She said the outbreak, which can be spread by skin-to-skin contact or sharing an item used by an infected person, is under control and all team members with open wounds have been banned from playing football.

Mmm . . . Sweet, Smoky, Buttery, Fecal Fried Chicken . . .

The anecdotal evidence well established, DEP officials will perform a formal olfactory survey of Hunts Point:

The city’s Department of Environmental Protection has tapped an engineering consulting firm to conduct an odor survey of Hunts Point over four days starting tomorrow, with the public asked to be the bloodhounds — phoning in when they pick up the scent.

The purpose of the survey is to identify the odors prevalent in the Hunts Point area and establish their sources.

The new pungency patrol is part of a seven-page agreement City Councilwoman Maria del Carmen Arroyo (D-South Bronx) wrangled from the DEP as the price for dropping her opposition to an expansion and upgrade of the Hunts Point Wastewater Treatment Facility to be built in her district.

The $235 million project was approved by the City Council Monday by a 48-to-0 vote.

The Council approval of several land-use actions will allow the DEP to begin work, expected to take eight years, on four egg-shaped, 130-foot-high “digester” tanks, where bacteria will break down sludge into a bio-solid for use as compost and fertilizer.

Tomorrow, inspectors from the Malcolm Pirnie Inc. consulting firm will be in Hunts Point from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., ready to track down odors called in by residents to a special hotline.

They’ll be back in the evenings from 5p.m. to 10 p.m. on the following Monday and Thursday, then again on Tuesday, Sept. 25.

. . .

The DEP has even offered a list of descriptors useful for characterizing odors under three broad categories:

“Almond-like” odors might be sweet, smoky, earthy, metallic, acidic, oily or like mothballs.

“Sulfidic” odors could be yeasty, fruity, putrid, fecal, buttery or honeylike.

“Alcohol-like” smells may be rubbery, sooty, coffee-like, chemical or like fried chicken.