Pregnancy-related complications and deaths of foetuses carried by six mothers-to-be had nothing to do with the type-A(H1N1) influenza vaccine they had received, a senior government doctor said yesterday.
Among the three deaths - one was caused by a dysfunctional placenta, the other by the mother's diabetes, and the third by its parents' heavy smoking - marijuana smoking by the father and homemade cigarettes by the mother, said Dr Sujittra Nimmannitr, chairperson of a Public Health Ministry's panel tasked with verification of vaccination-related complications.
Minister Jurin Laksanawisit said the findings meant the vaccinations should go ahead without delay. A public relations campaign to educate the public on the pros and cons of the vaccination should be in place, and a pre-vaccination examination on pregnant women required.
He said equipment for emergency complications should be made available at all hospitals providing vaccination, as well as a mechanism to deal with post-vaccination emergencies. All vaccinated people will be required to wait 30 minutes for possible complications before being allowed to go home.
Meanwhile, a number of officials from an office attached to the Bangkok City Assembly have contracted the influenza, prompting panic among some and a cleanup within their offices.
More than half the stricken officials with the Assembly's Secretariat Office have taken sick leave and those with coughs or symptoms consistent with the disease have been encouraged to follow suit while their workspaces and offices are sanitised. No details on the total number of the Secretariat Office are available.
Bangkok deputy governor Malinee Sukvejchaworokit said the situation had not reached a level requiring a halt to the office's operations.
She had earlier inspected chicken farms in Min Buri district and cited a local surveillance report that no chickens were sick or had died from avian influenza there. The local livestock office said inspections were carried out every three months and the risk level was now low.
