Mexicaanse griep in Thailand

Thailand Het laatste Thailand nieuws
21

Writer: BangkokPost.com
Published: 19/07/2009 at 04:33 PM

The Public Health Ministry plans to use the locally made vaccine against the A (H1N1) influenza next month.

Health deputy permanent secretary Siriwat Tiptaradol said on Sunday that the ministry had set up a committee to oversee the safety of the nasal-spray vaccine in accordance with the World Health Organisation’s standard.

“The committee comprises three subcommittees responsible for conducting trials on humans, registering the vaccine and promoting its production,” said Dr Siriwat.

Its members include experts from the WHO, the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation, the Department of Medical Sciences and faculties of pharmaceutical sciences of different universities, he said.

The first lot of vaccines should be out in the beginning of August, and they will be tested on animals first.

“If the vaccine is ineffective or unreliable, it will definitely not be used on humans,” he said.

He said the government had agreed to spend 600 million baht to import two million doses of a preventative vaccine from Sanofi Paster in France, and they should arrive in Thailand in December.

*Bron: Bangkok Post / www.bangkokpost.com *

22

Writer: BangkokPost.com
Published: 20/07/2009 at 04:55 PM

The education, labour and public health ministers have agreed to implement stricter measures in schools and factories to limit the spread of the Influenza A(H1N1) virus.

Education Minister Jurin Laksanavisit, Labour Minister Paitoon Kaewthong and Public Health Minister Witthaya Kaewparadai met on Monday to discuss new measures.

After the meeting, Mr Jurin said his ministry would instruct all schools to send students with flu-like symptoms to doctors immediately and tell them to stay home until they fully recovered, as a large number of cases were students.

The three ministers had also agreed to keep a closer eye on parents infected with the virus to prevent them from spreading the disease to others.

They also discussed measures to promote better health among the general public to combat the rapidly spreading disease, he said.

Labour Minister Paitoon said factories had been asked to allow their workers time off to fully recover before they returned to work.

“If the virus has been found to spread among employees in a factory, then it must be shut down temporarily,” he said.

Some workplaces, including the Labour Ministry, had already introduced body temperature scanners to detect workers with a fever.

Public Health Minister Witthaya said people with congenital or chronic diseases or obesity who have symptoms of flu should visit hospitals right away.

Other people with flu symptoms should stay home for two days and they should go to a hospital if their condition did not improve.

He said 987,000 public health volunteers would help examine people’s health across the country to contain the outbreak.

“The number of A(H1N1) flu cases reported in Rajavithi Hospital and many other hospitals is beginning to slow down,” Dr Witthaya said.’

Most people want the government to give information abou tthe spread of the A(H1N1) virus on a daily, not weekly basis as the government decided, according to a Suan Dusit Poll.

The poll was conducted from July 17 to 20 and involved 1,128 people in Bangkok and nearby provinces.

Asked if they wanted to information on the flu on a daily or weekly basis, 90 per cent of the respondents said they wanted it every day so that they would know what action to take.

What they wanted to know the most was preventive measures, followed by how to take care of patients, preliminary symptoms and how the virus is spread.

The said the most effective means of giving information on the flu was through television, followed by radio, newspapers, websites, mobile phones and health officials.

Most, 61.5 per cent, were not sure if they would catch the flu or not, but the rest believed they could protect themselves from it.

More than 90 per cent of the people polled said they had no problem wearing a gauze mask in public

*Bron: Bangkok Post / www.bangkokpost.com *

23

Writer: BangkokPost.com
Published: 22/07/2009 at 12:32 PM

The swine flu death toll has more than doubled from 20 last week to 44, while the total number of confirmed A(H1N1) flu cases has rocketed to 6,776, the Public Health Ministry reported on Wednesday.

Health deputy permanent secretary Paichit Varachit said 6,697 patients had recovered. Thirty-five others remained in hospitals and seven of them were in critical condition.

Public Health Minister Witthaya Kaewparadai said he had instructed provincial governors, doctors and nurses nationwide to implement more stringent measures to curb the A(H1N1) flu outbreak.

“Provincial authorities need to educate people about the disease and ways to protect themselves from being infected so they do not panic,” Dr Witthaya said.

Government officials and employees of state enterprises with flu-like symptoms can rest at home without having to get medical certificates, and they would not lose their holidays and other benefits, he said.

“Thailand’s ranking in the number of swine flu cases and fatalities has not really risen to fourth place, as other countries have stopped reporting on the flu situation,” the minister said.

He also expressed his concern for people who go to watch the friendly soccer match between Thailand and Liverpool on Wednesday evening.
People with flu symptoms should definitely not go to the game, he said.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said the government will fine-tune and increase measures to combat the swine flu outbreak.

The number of confirmed infections increased considerably last week as the virus had spread quickly throughout the country, especially in the North and Northeast, he said.

“We must deal with the situation more quickly by having tougher measures to slow down its spread,” he said.

Academics had predicted the new flu strain might infect up to 40 per cent of the world’s population, he said.

“People should not panic if the Public Health Ministry announces that the number of H1N1 cases has soared to almost 50,000,” the prime minister said.

Interior Minister Chavarat Charnveerakul said he had ordered provincial governors to coordinate with health and other agencies in setting up swine flu prevention centres in their provinces.

He believed the swine flu outbreak would start to ease next month.

*Bron: Bangkok Post / www.bangkokpost.com *

24

Writer: APINYA WIPATAYOTIN
Published: 23/07/2009 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: News

The Public Health Ministry is reporting 20 more deaths from the deadly type-A (H1N1) flu and estimates more than 500,000 Thais have been infected.

The new fatalities recorded over the past seven days raises the country’s death toll to 44 from the flu pandemic.

Another 35 patients were in hospital, seven of them in critical condition, the ministry said in its weekly report, which replaces its daily report in an attempt to calm public panic about the disease.

Kamnuan Ungchusak, a senior expert in preventive medicine, said the estimated figure of 500,000 A (H1N1) cases was based on ministry calculations, which used the number of patients who had sought hospital treatment as a factor.

More than 25,000 people have sought treatment for flu-like symptoms at hospitals each day, the ministry has found.

But he said a surge in A (H1N1) cases was not beyond expectations.

“If we can’t quarantine the patients with mild symptoms at home, the figure will absolutely skyrocket,” Dr Kamnuan said. “If 50% of them stay home, the rising infection rate will stabilise. And if more than 70% of them stay home, it is good news. We can successfully control the outbreak.”

Paijit Warachit, deputy permanent secretary for public health, said the ministry had revised its medical procedures to curb the death rate. New measures would ensure patients received antiviral drugs in time and those in critical condition would be supervised by medical experts.

Yong Poovorawan, a virologist at Chulalongkorn University, said school closures had reduced the virus’s spread.

“Based on my lab tests, I found cases of infected students have fallen.
But there have been more infections of people aged under six and between 20-40,” Dr Yong said.

The ministry will review the rate of infections during the school closure period next week and consider whether the measure had been effective.

The World Health Organisation yesterday said A (H1N1) flu deaths had doubled in the past three weeks to over 700 from about 330 at the start of July.

*Bron: Bangkok Post / www.bangkokpost.com *

25

het is toch gewoon niet te geloven wat die officiele instanties in Thailand durven zeggen en beweren…
als 50% van de gevallen thuisblijft…en als 70% van de zieken thuisblijven…dan…

dat is dus gewone kul…
Het gaat alleen de snelheid van overzetting een beetje vertragen…maar niet het gedroomd effect van wat zij beweren…
uitkomst over termijn is het zelfde.
Maar ja…zo houden ze ook weer een mooi excuse achter hand…
“de andere hebben weeral niet gedaan wat wij vroegen…en zie nu…”

regenachtig 33 graden

26

Writer: Bangkok Post.com
Published: 24/07/2009 at 02:31 PM

The Public Health Ministry has identified seven groups who will receive the flu vaccine when it’s available, Dr Charung Muangchana, chief of the National Vaccine Committee Office, said on Friday.

Dr Charung said the chronic illnesses include heart disease, asthma, diabetes and cancer.

The fourth group would be students aged from 6 to 15 years, and the fifth group will be people between 15 and 49. The sixth group would be 49 to 65 year-olds, with people over 65 in the last group.

“The reason why we give priority to pregnant women is because there are reports that they have died from the flu,” he said.

“And we will also give the vaccine to children first because they are the group which has been infected with the H1N1 virus the most.”

Dr Charung expressed concern that the two million doses of vaccine being purchased from France would not be enough because one person may need two doses.

The vaccines from France were being made from a virus that was killed, so they could be used for all seven groups. But the vaccine being made locally could not be given to pregnant women and those with chronic illnesses because the it would be made from weakened, live viruses.

There were about about 300,000 medical staff, 800,000 pregnant women and 2.6 million people with chronic illnesses, totalling at least 3.6 million people, he said.

The proposal to set priority groups would be submitted to the panel of the National Vaccine Committee Office on Aug 13 for approval, he said.

*Bron: Bangkok Post / www.bangkokpost.com *

27

Writer: Bangkok Post.com
Published: 27/07/2009 at 04:16 PM

The Public Health Ministry reported the world’s first case of a foetus being infected with the A(H1N1) virus to World Health Organisation on Monday, a day after the case was brought to public attention.

Public Health Minister Witthaya Kaewparadai said the baby was born premature. The 26-year-old mother had H1N1 flu and gave birth only seven months into her term.

The prenatal infection was a case study, because it was the world’s first recorded case, he said.

It was not clear at this stage how the baby contracted the virus – whether from the mother’s amniotic fluid or through the umbilical chord, Dr Witthaya said.

He said the ministry had informed the WHO but there was still no need for any new measures. Pregnant women were already listed as a risk group and would get priority in receiving the flu vaccine.

The woman was airlifted from Ratchaburi Hospital to Chulalongkorn Hospital where she gave birth by caesarean section. The mother was in a critical condition and could not breathe by herself. She relied on a respiratory support system.

The baby’s condition had improved, according to Deputy Public Health Minister Manit Nopamornbodee.

Dr Witthaya refused to comment on the distribution of anti-viral oseltamivir tablets that were sent to clinics in Ratchaburi province, which has highest recorded death toll from the virus - seven of the 44 confirmed deaths have been in Ratchaburi.

Dr Witthaya said distribution began only two days ago, so an assessment of the scheme was not possible.

About 30% of the flu patients who died had received medication too late to help them, he said.

The director of Ratchaburi hospital, Dr Thanin Panthutecha, reported that another weoman who was seven months pregnant and was admitted to the hospital on Sunday had been confirmed as having H1N1 flu

The 30-year-old woman had a high fever and was an asthmatic, but she was able to breathe on her own.

She was given oseltamivir tablets, and the baby would also receive the medication through the mother, he said.

“The baby is in a normal condition,” he said. The anti-viral medicine would not affect the child’s development.

*Bron: Bangkok Post / www.bangkokpost.com *

28

**Across-the-board effort to fight H1N1 outbreak **

Writer: APIRADEE TREERUTKUARKUL
Published: 3/08/2009 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: News

Free flu drugs are being made available today at state and private clinics as part of the Public Health Ministry’s latest effort to combat the spread of type-A (H1N1).

The ministry hopes the antiviral drug supply at clinics will solve problems of delayed treatment which can prove fatal in some severe flu cases.

Thirty-one clinics in Bangkok have been certified by the ministry to prescribe oseltamivir phosphate (the generic form of Tamiflu) to flu patients. More clinics in the capital and other provinces will be authorised this week if they meet requirements set by the ministry’s guidelines on flu drug prescription.

There are about 2,100 private clinics in Bangkok and 14,900 in rural areas.

Each authorised clinic has received 50 tablets of oseltamivir, enough to treat five people with type-A (H1N1), said Somyot Deerasmi, chief of the Department of Health Services Support.

The Government Pharmaceutical Organisation produces and trades oseltamivir under the brand GPO-A-Flu at a cost of 25 baht a tablet. The medicine will be given free to patients at private clinics but patients will have to pay for other drugs and medical services, Dr Somyot said.

Health officials yesterday held a meeting with doctors running private clinics in the city as a preparation for oseltamivir distribution. Dr Somyot said private clinics would be closely monitored to ensure they strictly follow clinical guidelines.

The National Health Security Office will oversee 130 clinics in the city while provincial public health officials in each province will closely monitor treatment standards and prescriptions.

The ministry guidelines state that only doctors at clinics are authorised to prescribe the antiviral drugs.

The clinics must report to the Public Health Ministry all cases experiencing drug side-effects. Any severe cases must be immediately transferred to a hospital. A follow-up on flu symptoms of patients must be conducted.

Clinics must be equipped with an infection control room. Any treatment of flu cases must be closely monitored and evaluated every month.

Dr Somyot said specialised clinics providing medical care for pregnancy and chronic diseases such as heart and kidney ailments and diabetes are not participating in the project because of fears their patients - who fall in the high-risk category - might contract the virus from visiting flu patients.

It was necessary for doctors and clinic operators to set aside patients with flu symptoms, he said.

Tara Chinakarn, director of the Medical Registration Division, said a guidebook on type-A (H1N1) prevention at clinics would be distributed.
The details include a recommendation for patients to wear masks while waiting to see doctors. Hand cleansing gel, wash basins and bins must be available at each clinic.

Paijit Warachit, deputy permanent secretary for public health, said flu drugs would also be supplied to provincial public health offices, which would distribute them to clinics meeting the clinical practice standard of each province from today.

The GPO earlier said the country had enough antiviral drugs to treat 10% of the population. The state drug firm is manufacturing a further 20 million tablets and will import raw materials to produce 40 million more.

Thailand last Wednesday reported 65 flu deaths and 8,877 infections while health authorities estimated more than half a million had contracted type-A (H1N1).

*Bron: Bangkok Post / www.bangkokpost.com *

29

Writer: BangkokPost.com
Published: 5/08/2009 at 01:29 PM

The Ministry of Public Health reported on Wednesday that 16 more people died of the A (H1N1) flu virus last week, bringing the number of fatalities to 81.

Permanent secretary Phaichit Varachit said of the 16 flu victims nine were male and seven female, one of them pregnant.

The ministry last Wednesday reported the flu death toll at 65.

“People now have a better understanding of swine flu and better access to the anti-viral drug Tamiflu,” a statement from the ministry said.

The World Health Organization reported that 1,154 swine flu patients in 160 countries had died.

“The rate of flu infection is diminishing in Bangkok and its vicinity but the deadly virus is spreading in the provinces,” Dr Phaichit said.

The number of infected students was decreasing, but infections had risen among farmers and workers at small firms.

The ministry estimated that 500,000 people across the country have been infected by the new flu strain.

Dr Phaichit said his ministry has come up with a “two reductions, three speeding up” scheme to curb the flu pandemic – reducing the flu death toll and reducing flu infection, and speeding up the information campaign, speeding up flu patient screening and speeding up the procedure to get flu patients to doctors as soon as possible.

The Ministry of Public Health will launch publicity campaigns to educate people on how to prevent infection. All 980,000 public health volunteers will regularly visit households nationwide to advise people how to protect themselves and detect and separate people who have flu-like symptoms.

The ministry reaffirmed that it had found no evidence that the A(H1N1) virus has developed a resistance to antiviral drugs.

*Bron: Bangkok Post / www.bangkokpost.com *

30

**Testing will involve over 400 volunteers **

Writer: APIRADEE TREERUTKUARKUL
Published: 12/08/2009 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: News

A plan to conduct clinical trials of a type-A (H1N1) flu vaccine in Thailand has been given the green light by health authorities.
The first trial is scheduled for early next month.

The Health System Research Institute’s clinical trial committee yesterday approved the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation’s proposal for clinical trials, detailing how the vaccine would be tested and the need to recruit more than 400 volunteers for the trial.

Scientists will today harvest the first batch of A (H1N1) viruses grown in hen eggs in preparation for the clinical trial, Vichai Chokewiwat, chairman of the clinical trial committee, said yesterday.

The GPO, the manufacturer of the A (H1N1) vaccine, hopes for a high yield of viruses from the eggs so a large quantity of vaccine could be produced.

“Only God knows how much yield we can get,” Dr Vichai said.

The state-run drug manufacturer started its A (H1N1) vaccine programme in mid-July when the agency obtained a seed strain of the virus from the World Health Organisation.

The seed vaccine was injected into eggs, which were incubated for two to three days to allow the virus to multiply.

Dr Vichai said the vaccine viruses would be sent to the Department of Medical Services for sterilisation tests. The A (H1N1) clinical trial could begin if the batch passed safety tests.

The GPO plans to start the first clinical trial on Sept 4. It would be overseen by Mahidol University’s faculty of tropical science. The double-blind test would require 24 volunteers. The age of the volunteers has yet to be disclosed, but a Public Health Ministry source earlier said they would be healthy Thais aged between 12 and 49 years.

Half would receive a vaccine shot containing a higher virus count than the other volunteers. Six people would be given a placebo. The second vaccine shot would be given 21 days after receiving the first flu jab.

Any symptoms and side-effects would be closely monitored by a team of local and Filipino experts. If the first 28 days of tests do not raise any safety concerns, researchers would begin vaccine trials with a larger group of 400 volunteers.

A team of independent medical experts - Kenji Hirayama, dean of Nagasaki University’s Institute of Tropical Medicine, Visanu Thamlikitkul, director of Siriraj Hospital’s Clinical Epidemiology Unit, Boonmee Sathapatayavongs, head of Ramathibodi Hospital’s faculty of medicine, and Supamit Choonsuthiwat, a medical expert at the Department of Disease Control - would then decide if the trial should progress further.

“For a lot of reasons, this is not a typical vaccine trial,” Dr Vichai said. “The urgency of getting this vaccine out for public use is important. But we also have to look carefully into safety data.”

If the trials go as planned, the first batch of the vaccine should be ready by October. Pregnant women and high-risk groups would be given priority.

The Public Health Ministry yesterday released its weekly report on the A (H1N1) outbreak. It said 16 more people had died in the past week and 1,542 new cases were reported. A total of 97 people have died from the virus so far with 11,585 cases confirmed.

*Bron: Bangkok Post / www.bangkokpost.com *

31

Writer: THEERAWAT KHAMTHITA
Published: 13/08/2009 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: News

CHIANG RAI : Health agencies from Thailand and five neighbouring countries have met in this northern province to discuss measures to prevent a possible new round of the H1N1 flu pandemic.

Health experts and representatives from relevant agencies in Chiang Rai, Laos, Burma, Cambodia, Vietnam and Malaysia yesterday attended the meeting to assess the influenza situation.

About 70 participants attended the three-day meeting, which ends tomorrow.

Fears were growing that there would be a fresh round of the flu virus outbreak in November following the rising number of deaths and inflections in Thailand over the past months. November is the start of the cool season.

Flu surveillance and measures to prevent influenza from spreading were discussed during the meeting.

Nikul Jitthai, manager of the International Organisation for Migration’s Migrant Health Programme, said neighbouring countries sent their representatives to the meeting as they viewed Thailand as the region’s hub for tourism where there were many cases of flu infections. Also, the country had effective surveillance measures to prevent further outbreaks.

*Bron: Bangkok Post / www.bangkokpost.com *

32

Writer: BangkokPost.com
Published: 20/08/2009 at 03:29 PM

An 8-months pregnant woman infected with A(H1N1) flu died early on Thursday but her baby is safe after doctors peformed a caearean section, Veerasak Kiatphadungkul, deputy director of Maharaj Hospital in Nakhon Ratchasima province, announced.

Dr Veerasak said the woman, 26, was transferred from a private hospital in Muang district to Maharaj Hospital three weeks ago and admitted to an intensive care unit.

She died of a lung infection and kidney failure about 1am on Thursday.

He said the foetus was removed from her womb by C-section The baby girl weighed 1,400 grammes. A medical examination showed she was not been infected with the deadly virus.

The mother was the fourth patient to die from the effects of the swine flu virus in Nakhon Ratchasima, Dr Veerasak said.

*Bron: Bangkok Post / www.bangkokpost.com *

33

Published: 1/09/2009 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: News

Drivers of more than 100,000 taxis in Bangkok are being forced to wear surgical masks on duty as part of a state campaign to prevent the spread of the type-A (H1N1) flu epidemic.

Public Health Minister Witthaya Kaewparadai kicks off a campaign on Monday to encourage taxi drivers and passengers to take precautions as part of the government’s fight to halt the spread of type-A (H1N1) flu. TAWATCHAI KEMGUMNERD

“Taxi drivers who wear face masks have not contracted the flu, but rather have joined in the government’s campaign to stop the flu from spreading,” Public Health Minister Witthaya Kaewparadai said yesterday.

The Public Health Ministry yesterday launched a campaign called “Thai taxi volunteers to fight 2009 flu” with the cooperation of 17 taxi cooperatives which operate 100,900 taxis. More than 200,000 taxi drivers are employed by the cooperatives to drive the vehicles and will participate in the campaign.

These vehicles serve more than a million people a day, Mr Witthaya said.

The drivers are willing to help the ministry adopt preventive measures against the flu in the face of mounting public fear over catching the virus.

The ministry will hand out 400,000 masks to the taxi drivers. They will be asked to wear the masks at all times on duty. They will also be required to have their temperatures checked before starting work.

The cooperatives will regularly clean all taxis with disinfectant, especially parts of the vehicles like door handles which are in frequent contact with passengers. The drivers will be asked to open all windows after dropping off a passenger to ventilate the taxi.

Passengers will be able to buy face masks and hand cleansing gel from the taxi drivers.

Although the number of people who have fallen ill or died from the virus has fallen, this does not mean the outbreak will end soon, Mr Witthaya said.

The Bureau of Epidemiology said up until Aug 26, there were 14,976 reported cases of H1N1 with 119 deaths.

*Bron: Bangkok Post / www.bangkokpost.com *

34

Writer: BangkokPost.com
Published: 3/09/2009 at 03:34 PM

More than three million people in Thailand may have caught the A/H1N1 flu and have recovered by themselves, the Public Health Ministry reported on Thursday.

Health deputy permanent secretary Paichit Varachit said the swine flu outbreak can still intensify in the country, especially in the rural areas of the 15 northern and northeastern provinces.

Some of them are Chiang Mai, Phrae, Lampang, Lamphun, Uttaradit, Phetchabun, Tak, Sukhothai, Khon Kaen, Mahasarakham, Roi Et and Suphan Buri.

“People should not take the outbreak too lightly and they should follow the ministry’s sanitary measures. Those with severe flu symptoms should see a doctor immediately,” Dr Paichit said.

The country’s death toll from swine flu infection rose to 130 last week, up by 11.

*Bron: Bangkok Post / www.bangkokpost.com *

35

Writer: BangkokPost.com
Published: 9/09/2009 at 12:29 PM

The Ministry of Public Health reported on Wednesday that 12 more people had died of the A (H1N1) flu virus last week, bringing the country’s swine flu toll to 142 since May 2009.

Of the new flu victims, three were male and nine female, seven were in the Northeast, three in the South and one each in the North and the East, said Phaijit Varachit, permanent secretary of the ministry.

Dr Phaijit said there were large numbers of swine flu patients in Ubon Ratchathani, Amnat Charoen, Khon Kaen, Roi-Et, Mukdahan, Chiang Mai, Kamphaeng Phet, Sukhothai, Phitsanulok, Phichit, Chachoengsao, Rayong, Chon Buri, Lopburi, Saraburi, Samut Sakorn, Samut Songkram, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Songkhla and Phuket.

*Bron: Bangkok Post / www.bangkokpost.com *

36

Writer: BangkokPost.com
Published: 16/09/2009 at 12:20 PM

The Ministry of Public Health confirmed on Wednesday that 11 more patients died of the A(H1N1) flu virus last week, bringing the country’s flu toll to 153 since the outbreak began in April.

“Two-thirds of the new swine flu victims, six male and five female, had chronic illnesses,” deputy health permanenet secretary Phaijit Varachit said.

Dr Phaijit said his ministry had directed all public health centres to keep a close watch on the situation. If they come across patients with swine flu-like symptoms, they must assume the patients have been infected with the deadly virus and immediately send them to a hospital.

“Doctors can immediately give the patients an anti-viral drug without having to wait for lab test results. This measure is aimed at reducing the fatality rate,” Dr Phaijit said.

*Bron: Bangkok Post / www.bangkokpost.com *

37

Writer: BangkokPost.com
Published: 23/09/2009 at 11:43 AM

The Ministry of Public Health confirmed on Wednesday morning that seven more patients died of A(H1N1) flu last week, bringing the country’s death toll from the virus to 160 since the outbreak began on April 28.

Health Minister Witthaya Keawparadai said he was worried because people seemed to be less concerned about the swine flu now and fail to properly protect themselves, despite warnings there could be a resurgence of the rate of infection from October to December.

*Bron: Bangkok Post / www.bangkokpost.com *

38

Writer: APIRADEE TREERUTKUARKUL
Published: 24/09/2009 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: News

Thai health authorities are considering shelving plans to order an added 3million flu vaccine doses to cover priority groups because of global production shortages.

Deputy permanent secretary for public health Paijit Warachit yesterday said the order for the 3 million doses against the pandemic influenza might have to be put on hold.

“It’s not easy to order millions of vaccine doses at this time as there are only about 500 million doses available worldwide, compared to a global population of 6 billion,” Dr Paijit said.

Dr Paijit will assume office as the new public health permanent secretary on Oct 1.

He also said it was essential to consider other factors such as the research and development of a local nasal-spray type vaccine and to take into account the outcome of vaccine donation pledges to developing countries.

The subcommittee on immunisation practice, which advises the government on vaccine matters, last week recommended that front-line healthcare workers, pregnant women and people with obesity problems or developmental disability and chronic diseases - about 5 million people - should be the first to receive vaccines.

He said they were the top priority in regard to type-A (H1N1) flu because they belong to high-risk groups.

The recommendation is aimed at reducing the number of deaths in the country based on the fatality figures released by the Bureau of Epidemiology.

Dr Paijit said the type-A (H1N1) flu has put 10,000 people in hospital every day.

However, only 2 million doses of inactivated vaccine will be available from the manufacturer, Sanofi Pasteur, in December and January.

Dr Paijit said provincial health officials have been instructed to closely monitor and control the spread of the H1N1 virus in schools, factories, temples and prisons as cases of local human-to-human transmission have been reported nationwide.

The flu situation in the North and Northeast could get worse in coming months as the weather changes from the rainy season to the cool season, Dr Paijit said.

An estimated 5 million people in Thailand have already contracted the H1N1 virus after the first case was reported in late April, he said.

This group amounted to only 8% of the total population and would not help slow the virus transmission rate, Bureau of Epidemiology director Pasakorn Akrasevi said.

*Bron: Bangkok Post / www.bangkokpost.com *

39

Published: 7/10/2009 at 12:17 PM
Online news: Breakingnews

The Public Health Ministry on Wednesday announced an end to the weekly report on the number of A(H1N1) flu victims after there were no more deaths from the virus during the past week.

The total number of deaths from the A(H1N1) flu stands at 165.

Public Health Minister Witthaya Kaewparadai said the ministry will no give a weekly report on deaths, but will instead report the situation with the disease on its website on a weekly basis.

He attributed the drop in the number of deaths to the work of village health volunteers, saying they have been able to effectively introduce protective measures against the flu.

However, this was not confirmation that the flu threat will totally disappear, he said. Implementation of preventive measures against the flu will continue.

Health stations all over the country have been instructed to take precautions against possible resurgence of the flu during the school vacation.

The Public Health Ministry issued its previous weekly report on the flu on Sept 30, confirming five deaths.

*Bron: Bangkok Post / www.bangkokpost.com *

40

Published: 28/10/2009 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: News

The Public Health Ministry is bracing for a second round of type-A (H1N1) influenza attacks in coming weeks.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/media/content/20091028/79784.jpg

Paijit: Hospitals ready and waiting

Reports of a second flu wave and a sharp jump in patients in the US and Mexico have prompted health authorities to issue an alert of a potential new strike as the weather cools and the new school term gets under way.

People attending crowded activities, such as the Loy Kratong festival on Monday, are urged to protect themselves from the virus.

“We have to carefully watch out for a flu outbreak over the next two to three weeks as 12 million students will return to school,” said Kamnuan Ungchusak, a Public Health Ministry disease control expert.

“Also, the cooling weather and festivities enable the virus to stay in the environment longer and transmit to more people without proper protection.”

Students were among the first group to contract the type-A H1N1 influenza when the first flu wave hit in late April. Thousands of schools in Bangkok were ordered closed for a week to contain the outbreak.

About 40% of schools in Bangkok and 20% of more than 30,000 schools under the Office of the Basic Education Commission reported flu cases during the first round of the flu, Dr Kamnuan said.

The epidemiologist believed schools in rural areas were at greater risk this time because the flu virus had spread to local communities.

“It is worrying that local flu cases will increase rapidly if the new flu wave strikes,” Dr Kamnuan said.

Permanent secretary for public health Paijit Warachit said he would call a meeting today of provincial public health chiefs and livestock officials in the lower North and upper central provinces on preventing H1N1, seasonal flu and bird flu outbreaks.

Health authorities are also working with medical schools and the Emergency Medical Institute of Thailand to build a network of emergency units to help cut mortality rates and ensure beds are available for critical patients.

There have been 182 deaths in Thailand from H1N1 as of last Saturday.

Hospitals are equipped to handle a possible surge of new patients from the second flu wave, Dr Paijit said.

Lessons learned during the peak period of July and August show that both outpatient and ICU wards became quickly overwhelmed.

An estimated 16,000 patients a day sought hospital treatment for flu-like illnesses during the peak period.

Government Pharmaceutical Organisation managing director Witit Artavatkun yesterday said it was possible the clinical trial of the type-A (H1N1) vaccine could be undertaken by mid-November as experts had almost completed studying the product’s stability.

*Bron: Bangkok Post / www.bangkokpost.com *