Doctors claiming to sell 'vaccine' for flu face ban

Council president Dr Somsak Lohlekha said yester¬day that no such vaccine was available yet. 

The warning comes after a report that doctors at some clinics and private hospitals had advertised that they could provide a vaccine against the new flu virus, prompting many people who fear getting the A (H1N1) virus to crowd at clin¬ics and private hospitals to get the "vaccine".

Under Medical Council regulations, doctors who seek to lure patients by causing them to misunderstand their medical services can be put on probation or have their medical licence confiscated as punishment.

"They would face punishment if they try to lure members of public to their service to provide a 'vaccine' injection for the new flu," Somsak said.

He urged doctors around the country to stop providing a test¬ing service for the typeA(H1N1) flu virus. He said the tests should be restricted to people most likely to be at risk from the severe flulike illness.

Doctors should also not ask patients with flutype symp¬toms to stay at hospitals and charge them high prices for treatment.

Somsak said medication at hospitals should be limited to highrisk patients and patients severely ill with flulike symptoms. 

Included in this group are children under five, pregnant women and elderly people with chronic conditions like heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes.

He said patients with mild symptoms of influenza could stay at home for a week and take medicine to reduce any fever. Patients should recover fully and promptly.

Thailand has now 518 confirmed cases of influenza A (H1N1), after 113 new cases reported yesterday. Bangkok has most - 318 patients with the new flu virus.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has reported 35, 928 cases of influenza A(H1N1) in 76 countries worldwide. Some 163 people have died from the virus.

Dr Somchai Peerapakorn, at the WHO office in Thailand, said the world health body was keeping an eye on the flu pandemic in South America. 

He said the WHO feared the typeA(H1N1) flu virus would mix with the common flu spreading in South America and mutate into a form that was more virulent in humans.

"We are worried that the virus will be more virulent and spread to North America if it mixes with the seasonal flu strain in South America. It could mutate again and again, especially in winter," he said.

So, he said every country around the world should report infection cases and outbreak updates to the WHO as the UN's health agencies can monitor and prepare for any global pandemic.

"It would be a bad result if all affected countries around the world hide information," he said.