Three new deaths bring number up to 21

The type-A (H1N1) influenza has already claimed 21 lives in Thailand, with the 18th victim being a healthy young boxer.

"He had absolutely no underlying diseases," Tambon Khok Harn Administrative Organisation's chairman Prasop Krainana said yesterday about his nephew.

The 19-year-old succumbed to the illness in Nakhon Si Thammarat on Sunday night. He was first admitted to the Thung Yai Hospital on July 4 and later moved to the Thung Song Hospital where he died.

The 19th victim was a 13-year-old boy, the 20th a 46-year-old woman from Sakon Nakhon and the 21st victim a 53-year-old woman in Bangkok.

So far, the swine-flu outbreak has claimed up to eight lives in the capital alone, and infected 3,883 people nationwide between April 28 and July 13. Though most patients have recovered, nine are still in critical condition.

Public Health Minister Witthaya Kaewparadai believed the type-A (H1N1) virus would affect more parents next month because quite a few children had been treated for the swine flu recently. He added that his ministry would have to introduce more drastic measures if the rate of fatality goes any higher.

At present, the rate of type-A (H1N1)-related deaths is slightly below 0.5 per cent.

"If it goes over 0.5 per cent, we will have to invoke some laws that will affect people's rights," Witthaya said.

Meanwhile, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has decided to prescribe tamiflu pills to treat patients suspected of having type-A (H1N1) infections without waiting for lab-test results. The BMA operates several hospitals in Bangkok.

"We have also decided to give tamiflu to patients with bacterial lung infections right away," Deputy Bangkok City Clerk Kraijak Kaewnil said yesterday.

Some 7,650 people have used the BMA hospitals' fast-track lanes for patients with flu-like symptoms. Of them, 32 had the type-A (H1N1) virus but all have recovered.

Meanwhile, Dr Somwang Danchaiwichit of Mahidol University's Siriraj Hospital has raised concern that hundreds of patients are flocking to seek medical treatment out of sheer panic.

Some patients have insisted that the hospital conduct laboratory tests to see if they had had the swine-flu virus even though it was not necessary. Several patients also brought truckloads of people from their villages to seek treatment for flu-like symptoms at the hospital, while some even camped out in front of hospitals such as the Bamrasnaradu Infectious Disease Institute.

"Laboratory tests will only be conducted on patients who show severe symptoms," he said. "Siriraj is not the only hospital dealing with such widespread panic, and if it is not controlled it will have an adverse effect on the medical treatment system."