Public health ministry sees new flu outbreak
Public Health Minister Witthaya Kaewparadai
A second round of Type A (H1N1) influenza has emerged in Thailand this month, as a third of the soldiers in a Phetchabun army base and many schoolchildren in Nakhon Ratchasima, Samut Prakan and other provinces have shown flulike symptoms.
Public Health Minister Witthaya Kaewparadai said yesterday that the ministry instructed hospitals to prepare stocks of antiviral medications and to closely monitor highrisk groups.
The government will order one million doses of imported vaccines, he said, with 800,000 to be given to the Disease Control Department to treat highrisk persons, while the rest will be for the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO) to sell to private medical facilities.
The ministry will closely watch the virus outbreak and implement preventive measures into February, he said.
In the first round of the outbreak, lab results from May to October confirmed 28,318 patients, leading to a prediction that the virus might infect about 8.4 million Thais, of which 20 per cent live in Bangkok. On Wednesday, the health ministry confirmed one additional death, bringing the country's total death toll to 185.
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