Diarrhea, vomiting, food poisoning Phuket

[Bob12345]

Whats going on in Phuket currently?

 

My wife works in the hospital and she reported she had over 30 cases last night with people throwing up and vomiting.

The day before she got sick herself (throwing up) and many other doctors confirmed getting sick and seeing many patients with the same sympthons.

 

This is really something of the last couple of days...

 

(mostly related to the koh kaew area and near the Bangkok Hsospital; main branche, dibuk, and phuket international hospital)

 

 

Did you get ill?

What can be the cause?

Seeing it happening around you a lot?

Something in the water?

[Old Croc]

It won't be the water.

Some months back a friend staying with me bought some crab curry from one of the markets. I didn't like the looks of it and asked if he wanted mine which he also consumed. He was sick as a dog for days.

I think some unscrupulous venders reheat and sell leftovers with bad results. 

[AJBangkok]

A friend’s nanny had the exact same thing 2 days ago. She was hospitalized for 1 night so it’s a nasty bug for sure

[Bob12345]

52 minutes ago, Old Croc said:

It won't be the water.

Some months back a friend staying with me bought some crab curry from one of the markets. I didn't like the looks of it and asked if he wanted mine which he also consumed. He was sick as a dog for days.

I think some unscrupulous venders reheat and sell leftovers with bad results. 

Thats just plain food poisoning, i am talking about a specific outbreak here in Phuket for the last 2-3 days without any obvious related cause.

[stevenl]

Was Koh Kaew part of the area where the water was shut off last week?

[Bob12345]

18 minutes ago, stevenl said:

Was Koh Kaew part of the area where the water was shut off last week?

No, we had no interruption of the water supply.

But that was also something that crossed my mind; maybe some water problem due to a shutoff or something.

[stevenl]

21 minutes ago, Bob12345 said:

No, we had no interruption of the water supply.

But that was also something that crossed my mind; maybe some water problem due to a shutoff or something.

Not many people drink that water though, so it must have been inhaled. So personally I don't believe that that's it.

[watcharacters]

1 hour ago, Old Croc said:

It won't be the water.

Some months back a friend staying with me bought some crab curry from one of the markets. I didn't like the looks of it and asked if he wanted mine which he also consumed. He was sick as a dog for days.

I think some unscrupulous venders reheat and sell leftovers with bad results. 

 

That's a new one for me.

 

I've wondered in the past how often the chicken and etc. at the bottom of big piles of food on trays get recycled.

 

While I con't confirm, I doubt any food vendor actually throws away any food ever.

 

 

[sammieuk1]

Virus of some sort all of us wiped out here in CM. 

[JHolmesJr]

A bad thing for 2 week millionaires like me who have no choice but to eat out.

[Bob12345]

15 minutes ago, sammieuk1 said:

Virus of some sort all of us wiped out here in CM. 

Interesting, it might be bigger than just Phuket and be national.

Lets see if it gets picked up in the media coming days...

[sammieuk1]

1 minute ago, Bob12345 said:

Interesting, it might be bigger than just Phuket and be national.

Lets see if it gets picked up in the media coming days...

The boy brought home from school don't eat street food/water my turn last night not a pleasant time feels like a novichok attack must check the door handles. 

[Kinnock]

Very likely Norovirus - person to person spread via direct contact, door handles, shopping carts, tables - anything where the virus can be picked up and enter the body via mouth or any other handy orifices depending on your lifestyle.

 

Same outbreak that happens on cruise ships, in hospitals and schools.

 

Only eat (very) hot food when eating out and only touch very hot girls.

 

Wash hands, use hand sanitizer, avoid touching your mouth and eyes, no food that's been directly handled without cooking or washing before serving - and you'll be fine.

[Bob12345]

2 hours ago, Kinnock said:

Very likely Norovirus ...

Nope, blood tests were done and its a bacteria, not a virus.

[Kinnock]

1 hour ago, Bob12345 said:

Nope, blood tests were done and its a bacteria, not a virus.

Let's see.

 

It may be bacterial, but blood test are not the way this is determined in a food poisoning outbreak.  All a blood test are likely to show is that the people having the test are fighting a bacterial infection - but that may be coincidence.

 

I'm struggling to think what food item could have such a wide-spread impact if it's not viral - especially in Thailand where so much food is locally produced to order?

 

Water has been mentioned already.  Ice perhaps?  E.coli is an issue in ice.  Or a local vegetable such as bean sprouts or cabbage.

[impulse]

5 minutes ago, Kinnock said:

Let's see.

 

It may be bacterial, but blood test are not the way this is determined in a food poisoning outbreak.  All a blood test are likely to show is that the people having the test are fighting a bacterial infection - but that may be coincidence.

 

I'm struggling to think what food item could have such a wide-spread impact if it's not viral - especially in Thailand where so much food is locally produced to order?

 

Water has been mentioned already.  Ice perhaps?  E.coli is an issue in ice.  Or a local vegetable such as bean sprouts or cabbage.

 

I'm always amazed that most e-coli outbreaks in the USA are due to things like spinach, lettuce and packaged salad mixes.  I figure it would be meat, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

 

[xtrnuno41]

Water is what you have every day, as for shower or drinking. You drink the bottled water, so process error with drinkwater supplier? Ofcourse there are many of them, but maybe one is the wrong one.

But if you take a shower, wash, brush your teeth you take the city water and will get water in. No matter what.

Dont know what system is making the water, but you can kill all with an UV -lamp installation. In former days they used chlorine, but changed it to UV handling. Seems to work here.

[ThaiWai]

I very rarely eat at restaurants in low season unless I see the fish swimming in the tanks for exactly this reason. Slow season equals less customers equals old food equals sickness. 

[seancbk]

4 hours ago, JHolmesJr said:

A bad thing for 2 week millionaires like me who have no choice but to eat out.

 

Surely as a 2 week millionaire you aren't eating on the street or anywhere less than a 5 star restaurant.

[impulse]

35 minutes ago, ThaiWai said:

I very rarely eat at restaurants in low season unless I see the fish swimming in the tanks for exactly this reason. Slow season equals less customers equals old food equals sickness. 

 

The restaurants I worry about are the ones (prevalent in China and areas serving the Chinese) where the menu has more pages than the number of diners for the evening.   A little math says that some of those menu items may not turn over in a week.

 

 

[Sprigger]

Par for the course in Thailand, probably salmonella. They have no training or concept of food hygiene. Nothing a few antibiotics can put right 

[prettyawsm]

True smth is going on. Working in the hotel and having a <deleted> ton of guests getting very ill. Been about a week already and we thought that's our food or smth. Did a deep clean of the whole thing, trained staff and this outbreak still won't stop.

[schlog]

15 minutes ago, prettyawsm said:

True smth is going on. Working in the hotel and having a <deleted> ton of guests getting very ill. Been about a week already and we thought that's our food or smth. Did a deep clean of the whole thing, trained staff and this outbreak still won't stop.

Where is your hotel? Phuket Town?

[RT555]

5 hours ago, watcharacters said:

 

That's a new one for me.

 

I've wondered in the past how often the chicken and etc. at the bottom of big piles of food on trays get recycled.

 

While I con't confirm, I doubt any food vendor actually throws away any food ever.

 

 

Food vendors typically rinse the seafood, meat and poultry in a bleach solution to extend it 1 or 2  days. Been going on for years. 

[moutamine]

It's called Thai Food buddy! Get use to it !

[Thingamabob]

Novocheck.

[oldlakey]

9 hours ago, Old Croc said:

It won't be the water.

Some months back a friend staying with me bought some crab curry from one of the markets. I didn't like the looks of it and asked if he wanted mine which he also consumed. He was sick as a dog for days.

I think some unscrupulous venders reheat and sell leftovers with bad results. 

Never

[sandrabbit]

6 hours ago, xtrnuno41 said:

Water is what you have every day, as for shower or drinking. You drink the bottled water, so process error with drinkwater supplier? Ofcourse there are many of them, but maybe one is the wrong one.

But if you take a shower, wash, brush your teeth you take the city water and will get water in. No matter what.

Dont know what system is making the water, but you can kill all with an UV -lamp installation. In former days they used chlorine, but changed it to UV handling. Seems to work here.

I think it's reverse osmosis now, maybe some finish with uv.

[German farang]

I guess this isn't just a local case of Phuket. I'm currently uproad, but my (Thai) wife in BKK started complaining since last week about the same symptomes: vomiting, stomach- & headaches, dizzyness, dumb & hurting legs... 

Since she works in the public (sales) & has to use the public transportation system I suspect any spreading bakteria or virus. Despite: her med. doc (the public thai one!) refused blood tests but gave her a bunch of different painkillers + minerals & vitamines... <deleted>!!!

[JHolmesJr]

9 hours ago, seancbk said:

 

Surely as a 2 week millionaire you aren't eating on the street or anywhere less than a 5 star restaurant.

my millions go towards uplifting the disadvantaged female population of isaan, not stuffing myself with gourmet food.