Eighteen students at P.S. 115 on 92nd Street and Avenue L in Canarsie, Brooklyn came down with some type of stomach ailment Friday afternoon, 1010 WINS’ reported.

Officials weren’t sure if the kids suffered from food poisoning or some type of virus. Some of the kids were vomiting so severely before 2 p.m. that an ambulance had to be called to the school, 1010 WINS’ Eileen Lehpamer reported.

EMS said 12 of the children from the school were taken to Jamaica Hospital.

There was no immediate official ruling on what made the kids sick, but all of the students ate the same pizza.

Department of Education spokeswoman Margie Feinberg issued the following statement Friday afternoon: “Five hundred students were served lunch – all the students who got sick came from the same [third-grade] classroom.”

The Department of Health will determine the final cause.

Please leave a comment below

WCBS 880′s Peter Haskell On The New Treatment Recommendation

PHOTOS: World AIDS Day

More than 110,000 people in New York City are infected with HIV, more than in any other U.S. city and about 75 percent of all cases in the state.

For those infected with HIV, taking AIDS drugs is an aggressive move that has been shown to prolong life and stem the spread of the disease.

Standard practice has been to have patients put off the expensive pill regimen, which can cost up to $15,000 a year in the United States, until the immune system weakens.

But Health Commissioner Thomas Farley said recent studies have shown that the benefits of early treatment, combined with education and testing, appear to be a promising strategy for countering the epidemic.

“I would say I’m more optimistic now than I’ve ever been about this epidemic,” Farley told 1010 WINS. “I’ve been involved in it for over 30 and it’s mostly been bad news over the years, but now I can say confidently that I feel like we’re winning and I’m hopeful that during my lifetime we can drop our new infection rate to zero.” 

City health officials said the new recommendation could initially help about 3,000 people get on medications. About 66,000 New Yorkers living with HIV that the Health Department tracks are being effectively treated with AIDS drugs, they said.

“What we’ve seen is that with the advent of what we call H.A.A.R.T., or highly active antiretroviral therapy, that patients are living longer and many of them will live full lives and die of another disease and not HIV,” Dr. Vicki Sharp of the new St. Luke’s-Roosevelt West 17th Street HIV/AIDS  clinic told WCBS 880.

In Washington, President Barack Obama renewed the U.S. commitment to ending AIDS by setting new goals for getting more people access to those life-saving drugs and boosting spending on treatment in the U.S. by $50 million dollars.

“We can beat this disease,” Obama declared at a World AIDS Day event at Georgetown University.

In New York, several city landmarks, including Madison Square Garden, the Apollo Theater and Radio City Music Hall, will be dimming their lights tonight as part of World AIDS Day.

The Empire State Building will light up in red tonight in honor of the red ribbon for HIV/AIDS awareness.

The AIDS charity Bailey House is also having events today at Harlem Hospital, including speakers, presentations and poetry readings.

“Really looking back and celebrating the lives of the thousands of homeless men, women and children who have died and we’re also celebrating life, those who are still living with HIV and AIDS,” Bailey House CEO Gina Quattrochi told 1010 WINS.

Bailey House provides HIV/AIDS testing throughout the year.

At Trinity Church today, the names of those who have died of AIDS will be read aloud.

Other events around the city include candlelight vigils and a march and rally in Lower Manhattan.

(TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

PHOTOS: Celebrity Deaths 2011

Comedian Patrice O’Neal has died from complications after suffering a stroke last month. O’Neal’s manager Jonathan Brandstein said the comedian died Tuesday morning in a New York-area hospital. He was 41.

“Many of us have lost a close and loved friend; all of us have lost a true comic genius,” Brandstein said in a statement.

O’Neal appeared on Conan O’Brien’s and David Letterman’s late night shows and was a frequent guest on the “Opie & Anthony” radio show on Sirius XM.

“Yes it’s true that our pal Patrice O’Neal has passed away. The funniest and best thinker I’ve known. PERIOD,” O&A said via Twitter.

O’Neal’s performance was a highlight of last summer’s Comedy Central’s roast of Charlie Sheen. Sheen tweeted on Tuesday, “The entertainment world as well as the world at large lost a brilliant man today.” He added, “My tears today are for the tremendous loss to his true friends and loving family.”

Share your thoughts here

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press

Di Fara Pizza, located on Avenue J in Midwood, was hit with 67 code violations last week by the city because of food storage temperatures and signs of mice and flies.

1010 WINS’ John Montone Gets Reaction In Midwood

Dom DeMarco Jr. says customers are craving the handmade pies cranked out by his dad for the last 47 years.  However, it’s been somewhat of a forced vacation for 75-year-old Domenico DeMarco Sr.

When asked by CBS 2′s Tony Aiello if he was enjoying the time off, DeMarco Sr. answered “yeah, I think so.”

Still, some loyal customers said they will head right back once the doors open again because — simply put – the pizza is “perfect.”

“It tastes like they use fresh tomatoes, it tastes like the cheese just came straight out of a cow,” one woman told 1010 WINS’ John Montone.

DeMarco Sr. said most customers only care about the quality of the pie.

“I had the inspector over here one time. The customer was over here, he said ‘I see pizza on the floor I eat it,’ he said to the inspector,” he told Aiello.

Others, however, say the Health Department got it right by closing the place down.

“It’s dirty in there, it’s dirty. You can see,” said one woman.

One man said he stopped going to the pizza joint because, as he claims, he spotted a mouse inside.

“It’s just a dirty place,” he said. “It’s good pizza, but when you got things crawling around, who the hell wants to eat pizza?”

The pizzeria opened in 1964 and hasn’t changed a whole lot since then.  There is certainly a patina of age on the old pizza dough mixing machine and on the stove, where the homemade pizza sauce simmers for hours and hours every day.

Di Fara was shut down once before, but after it opened, people were again lining up for the $5-a-slice pizza.  DeMarco Jr. said the family is working with a consultant to fix the violations and reopen as soon as possible.

Will you head back to Di Fara pizza?  Are you a fan?  Share your thoughts in the comments section below…

Health experts say it’s fast becoming a Petri dish of germs. The cold weather, the close quarters and the lack of sanitation are combining to create a possibly serious public health danger, reports CBS 2’s Marcia Kramer.

It’s not only the noise from the drums or the free spirited topless dancers who perform for swarms of speechless gawkers that are creating a quality of life crisis at Zuccotti Park. Now there is concern about a potential public health menace — disease.

You have already seen some of the protestors coughing, something they call “Zuccotti lung,” but experts said that is just the beginning.

“We’re starting to see respiratory problems and the flu and the cold season is now at hand in November and in addition there a few outbreaks of a Colisi virus, the so-called norovirus, the stomach flu – that’s the vomiting and diarrhea virus,” said Dr. Philip Tierno Jr.

Tierno, the director of clinical microbiology and immunology at NYU, said the combination of the cold weather, the cramped living conditions, poor sanitation and food open to the air and germs create fertile ground for the spread of disease.

“I think there will be a point in time when the sanitation facilities and the spread of microbial diseases reaches a level where Mayor Bloomberg will have to act,” Dr. Tierno said.

On his radio show Friday the mayor offered a cryptic response about the Zuccotti Park situation.

“We are watching it. We’ll do what’s appropriate when appropriate,” Bloomberg said.

Later, he ducked Kramer’s question on whether there is a tipping point from “Occupy Wall Street.”

“I think they have totally reached the tipping point. They really, really have. It’s unhealthy. It’s unsanitary,” Battery Park resident Nina Marabetian said.

“It’s a detriment to everyone that works around here,” Jose Aragon added.

“I think they’re overstaying their stay now,” Skip Hartman said.

Although many people say the clock is ticking no one knows when the alarm will actually go off and Mayor Bloomberg will take action.

Meanwhile, John Zuccotti, the head of the company that owns the park, insisted it is up to the city to enforce the laws. But Police Commissioner Ray Kelly told Kramer it’s up to Zuccotti’s firm to pull the plug because they own the property.

What do you think about the conditions in Zuccotti Park? Sound off below in our comments section…

WCBS 880′s Marla Diamond On The Story

Overweight and suffering from sleep apnea, New York restaurateur and “Master Chef” judge Joe Bastianich began running about five years ago.

He completed his first Iron Man Triathlon last month.

“I enjoy it. I find the long training to be very, it’s kind of my meditation,” he said.

And Bastianich enjoys eating.

“Not as a reward or a celebration, but to look at food as fuel for my training ambitions. That really changed everything,” he told WCBS 880 reporter Marla Diamond.

This Sunday’s run will be his fourth New York City Marathon and his post-marathon meal will make your mouth water.

“Beer and clams oreganata, eggplant involtini, baked shrimp with spicy tomato sauce,” he said.

Then it’s back to training for his next run.

What’s your favorite pre or post-run food and/or drink? Please share in the comments section below!

More than a dozen football players from JFK High School in Plainview spent the last game of the season, and for seniors the last game of their H.S. careers, in ambulances and hospitals after suffering hypothermia symptoms on Saturday.

The freak October storm turned football fields across Long Island  into frosty muddy messes, and when players from JFK and rival Valley Stream entered the locker room at halftime, more than a dozen  student-athletes nearly collapsed, CBS 2′s Jennifer McLogan reported.

Coaches didn’t take any chances and called for the doctor and EMTs.

“I was one of the players taken to the hospital for precaution,” JFK player Rob Hymowitz told McLogan. “I was fine during the game — running around making plays. And once we came in, I was just non-stop shivering.”

Another JFK player, Shane Lenahan who was in an ambulance, told McLogan that he “ just broke down.” “I don’t usually get cold, but just … the coaches really helped, they gave us their jackets.”

Fifteen players were treated for hypothermia, while school administrators huddled. “Whether to suspend the game, delay the game … once the game starts, it is in the hands of the sports officials,” Todd Heimer of the NY State Public High School Athletic Association told McLogan.

The second half was canceled. The game did not  affect the playoffs.

State guidelines mandate dressing in layers when the wind chill is 20 -36 degrees. When the wind chill reaches  10 to 19 degrees, players must cover heads and necks. When the wind chill drops -11 or colder there is an alert — no outside activity and practices and games must be canceled.

Saturday’s wind chill was 20 with horrendous conditions.

School districts say they will now review their decision-making and reconsider policies, for safety’s sake, regarding canceling games before they even start.

Four other high school football games were canceled in Nassau County Saturday and will be replayed. The players who suffered hypothermia  symptoms have recovered and were back in school Monday.

Do you think the game should have been canceled earlier? Sound off below

Steve Kaye, chief of Spring Hill EMS, says the apartment in Spring Valley lost electric power in the weekend snowstorm.

The father came home Monday to find some of his children sick and called 911, Kaye said. EMS workers arrived and detected high carbon monoxide readings. They took two adults and six children to nearby hospitals.

The family might have perished if the father had not called 911, Kaye said.

Spring Valley police Chief Paul Modica says the family members are expected to be released later Monday from the hospitals, however, they may not be able to return to their home.

On Monday, Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy warned residents of the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning. “Carbon monoxide may in fact be our biggest enemy at the moment,” Malloy said. “Do not bring a gas grill or a kerosene heater into a closed area. You’re going to die. You’re going to kill yourself and potentially your children.”

(TM and © Copyright 2011 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

Armonk, New York-based IBM’s supercomputer system, best known for trouncing the world’s best “Jeopardy!” players on TV, is being tapped by one of the nation’s largest health insurers to help diagnose medical problems and authorize treatments.

WellPoint Inc., which has 34.2 million members, will integrate Watson’s lightning speed and deep health care database into its existing patient information, helping it choose among treatment options and medicines.

WellPoint is the nation’s largest publicly traded health insurer based on enrollment. It operates Blue Cross Blue Shield plans in 14 states, including New York and California.

“This very much fits into the sweet spot of what we envisioned for the applications of Watson,” said Manoj Saxena, general manager of an IBM division looking at how the computer can be marketed.

Lori Beer, an executive vice president at Indianapolis-based WellPoint, agreed.

“It’s really a game-changer in health care,” she said.

The WellPoint application will combine data from three sources: a patient’s chart and electronic records that a doctor or hospital has, the insurance company’s history of medicines and treatments, and Watson’s huge library of textbooks and medical journals.

IBM says the computer can then sift through it all and answer a question in moments, providing several possible diagnoses or treatments, ranked in order of the computer’s confidence, along with the basis for its answer.

“Imagine having the ability within three seconds to look through all of that information, to have it be up to date, scientifically presented to you, and based on that patients’ medical needs at the moment you’re caring for that patient,” said WellPoint’s chief medical officer, Dr. Sam Nussbaum.

Saxena said the WellPoint application would likely be accessed from an ordinary computer or handheld device.

Beer said patients needn’t worry that Watson will be used to help insurers deny benefits. If a doctor veers from Watson’s diagnosis or treatment recommendations, the insurer would have a clinician review the case like it currently does. It won’t base a claim decision solely on Watson.

“Ultimately the goal here is not denying treatment but getting people to the right care,” Beer said, adding that Watson was not designed to replace humans.

Beer said WellPoint is trying to offer care providers a tool that helps lead to better treatment outcomes, which is what the insurer wants to base reimbursement on in the future.

Nussbaum said a pilot program will be rolled out early next year at several cancer centers, academic medical centers and oncology practices.

Neither party would say how much IBM is being paid. Saxena said it’s the first money Watson has earned for the company; the $1 million it won on “Jeopardy!” earlier this year was given to charity.

Watson’s next jobs will probably also be in health care, but financial services and public safety applications are on the horizon, Saxena said.

After winning against the best “Jeopardy!” players in history, Watson was beaten by New Jersey U.S. Representative and former rocket scientest Rush Holt.

(TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

They’ve only done it in three patients so far, but the results were striking: Two appear cancer-free up to a year after treatment, and the third patient is improved but still has some cancer. Scientists are already preparing to try the same gene therapy technique for other kinds of cancer.

“It worked great. We were surprised it worked as well as it did,” said Dr. Carl June, a gene therapy expert at the University of Pennsylvania. “We’re just a year out now. We need to find out how long these remissions last.”

He led the study, published Wednesday by two journals, New England Journal of Medicine and Science Translational Medicine.

It involved three men with very advanced cases of chronic lymphocytic leukemia, or CLL. The only hope for a cure now is bone marrow or stem cell transplants, which don’t always work and carry a high risk of death.

Scientists have been working for years to find ways to boost the immune system’s ability to fight cancer. Earlier attempts at genetically modifying bloodstream soldiers called T-cells have had limited success; the modified cells didn’t reproduce well and quickly disappeared.

June and his colleagues made changes to the technique, using a novel carrier to deliver the new genes into the T-cells and a signaling mechanism telling the cells to kill and multiply.

That resulted in armies of “serial killer” cells that targeted cancer cells, destroyed them, and went on to kill new cancer as it emerged. It was known that T-cells attack viruses that way, but this is the first time it’s been done against cancer, June said.

For the experiment, blood was taken from each patient and T-cells removed. After they were altered in a lab, millions of the cells were returned to the patient in three infusions.

The researchers described the experience of one 64-year-old patient in detail. There was no change for two weeks, but then he became ill with chills, nausea and fever. He and the other two patients were hit with a condition that occurs when a large number of cancer cells die at the same time — a sign that the gene therapy is working.

“It was like the worse flu of their life,” June said. “But after that, it’s over. They’re well.”

The main complication seems to be that this technique also destroys some other infection-fighting blood cells; so far the patients have been getting monthly treatments for that.

Penn researchers want to test the gene therapy technique in leukemia-related cancers, as well as pancreatic and ovarian cancer, he said. Other institutions are looking at prostate and brain cancer.

Dr. Walter J. Urba of the Providence Cancer Center in Portland, Ore., called the findings “pretty remarkable” but added a note of caution because of the size of the study.

“It’s still just three patients. Three’s better than one, but it’s not 100,” said Urba, one of the authors of an editorial on the research that appears in the New England Journal.

What happens long-term is key, he said: “What’s it like a year from now, two years from now, for these patients.”

But Dr. Kanti Rai, a blood cancer expert at New York’s Long Island Jewish Medical Center, could hardly contain his enthusiasm, saying he usually is more reserved in his comments on such reports.

“It’s an amazing, amazing kind of achievement,” said Rai, who had no role in the research.

None of the three patients wanted to be identified, but one wrote about his illness, and his statement was provided by the university. The man, himself a scientist, called himself “very luck,” although he wrote that he didn’t feel that way when he was first diagnosed 15 years ago at age 50.

He was successfully treated over the years with chemotherapy until standard drugs no longer worked.

Now, almost a year since he entered the study, “I’m healthy and still in remission. I know this may not be a permanent condition, but I decided to declare victory and assume that I had won.”

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Evergreen Produce of Moyie Springs, Idaho, initially refused to recall its sprouts after the Food and Drug Administration said the sprouts may be linked to the illnesses in Idaho, Montana, Washington state, North Dakota and New Jersey.

But the company relented under agency pressure. The FDA warned people on Monday not to eat the sprouts.

Salmonella is an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in people with weakened immune systems.

Raw sprouts often cause foodborne illness because they’re grown in moist, warm conditions that bacteria enjoy.

An unrelated European E. coli outbreak believed to be caused by sprouts has killed 49 people and sickened 4,000.

 The Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers not to eat Evergreen Produce brand alfalfa sprouts or spicy sprouts because they may be linked to 20 cases of salmonella poisoning.

The Idaho-based company has not recalled the sprouts though they are possibly linked to illnesses in Idaho, Montana, New Jersey, North Dakota and Washington state.

The FDA warned consumers not to eat sprouts labeled “Evergreen Produce” or “Evergreen Produce Inc.” The sprouts were distributed in Idaho, Montana and Washington state.

At least 47 people have died and 4,000 sickened in an outbreak of E. coli in Europe. FDA officials said the two outbreaks are not related.

There have been at least 30 outbreaks associated with raw or lightly cooked sprouts in the United States in the last 15 years.