Two cases of new COVID Omicron sub-variant reported in Thailand

[snoop1130]

 

Two new cases of COVID-19 Omicron sub-variant HK.3 infection have recently been detected in Thailand, but both patients have already recovered and their symptoms were not serious, said Dr. Supakit Sirilak, director-general of the Medical Sciences Department today (Wednesday).

 

He said that the two cases, a 65-year-old man and an 11-year-old girl, were members of the same family in Bangkok who were diagnosed with HK.3 and have already recovered, adding that it will take about two weeks to determine whether the new sub-variant is highly transmissible.

 

He disclosed that, during the past two weeks, 15 cases of the EG.5 sub-variant had been detected, plus 8 more cases more recently, as the sub-variant is spreading with the likelihood that it may replace XBB.1.16 as the dominant sub-variant in Thailand.

 

Full Story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/two-cases-of-new-covid-omicron-sub-variant-reported-in-thailand/

 

-- Thai PBS 2023-08-30

 

- Cigna offers a range of visa-compliant plans that meet the minimum requirement of medical treatment, including COVID-19, up to THB 3m. For more information on all expat health insurance plans click here.

 

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[TallGuyJohninBKK]

This may be a bigger concern to worry about regarding a different and highly mutated COVID variant beginning to spread around the globe, including to Thailand:

 

It's mentioned in the very final paragraph of the OP news report here:

 

"As for the BA.2.86 sub-variant, he said that it was detected in waste water in Bangkok in July, but it has not been found in humans yet, although the sub-variant is being kept under watch."

 

From other reports on the same topic:

 

"Regarding the highly mutated BA.2.86 virus, which it recently deemed a variant of interest, the WHO said as of August 23, nine sequences have been reported from five countries. No epidemiological sequences were reported among the patients, and no deaths were reported. Also, two countries—Switzerland and Thailand—have reported the virus in wastewater."

 

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/covid-markers-continue-rise-us-and-globally

 

--------------------------------------

 

Covid Variant BA.2.86 Detected In Thailand Wastewater: Scientist

By CodeBlue | 25 August 2023

 

KUALA LUMPUR, August 25 – The BA.2.86 variant has been detected in Thailand through wastewater sample analysis, adding to the list of countries that have reported the presence of the highly mutated Covid-19 strain.

 

Dr Leshan Wannigama, a physician scientist at the Department of Infectious Diseases and Infection Control at Yamagata Prefectural Hospital in Japan, posted on X last Wednesday about his findings.

 

“After sequencing the SARS-CoV-2 S gene and carefully analysing the data with existing BA.2.86 data I can confirm that our Thailand wastewater samples [are] positive for BA.2.86.”

 

(more)

 

https://codeblue.galencentre.org/2023/08/25/covid-variant-ba-2-86-detected-in-thailand-wastewater-scientist/

 

---------------------------------------

 

What you need to know about BA.2.86, the new ‘highly mutated’ COVID variant

What is BA.2.86? The new, highly mutated "Pirola" variant may be more capable of causing infection in people who are vaccinated or previously had COVID-19, the CDC says.

...

“The critical thing about this variant (BA.2.86) is that it has a whole host of mutations compared to some of the omicron variants that emerged about two years ago,” says Pekosz.

 

The mutations or changes in the virus sequence can affect how contagious a virus is, how well it responds to treatment and how severely it affects people, per the CDC.

 

“It represents a highly mutated form of SARS-CoV-2,” says Pekosz — in other words, BA.2.86 looks very different from the prevailing omicron XBB subvariants circulating."

 

https://www.today.com/health/coronavirus/ba286-pirola-covid-variant-symptoms-rcna100944

 

 

 

Edited August 30, 2023 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[Sunderland]

When is the variant TG.747 due to land?

[2long]

Now let's just forget about this silly virus and get on with life..

Oh, hang on.... the agenda of some interested parties means that we will forever be in fear and therefore under their control.

A lot of 'covidiots' and antivaxxers and conspiracy theorists might not have been that far off the mark 3 years ago.

[rattlesnake]

5 minutes ago, 2long said:

Now let's just forget about this silly virus and get on with life..

Oh, hang on.... the agenda of some interested parties means that we will forever be in fear and therefore under their control.

A lot of 'covidiots' and antivaxxers and conspiracy theorists might not have been that far off the mark 3 years ago.

Thank you.

[ukrules]

36 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

"As for the BA.2.86 sub-variant, he said that it was detected in waste water in Bangkok in July, but it has not been found in humans yet, although the sub-variant is being kept under watch."

I know plenty of people who've had a bit of a 'heavy cold' for 3 to 5 days recently (last few months) with about an additional week to full recovery.

 

Nobody that I know who's had it seems to be reporting it to anybody, cold medicines help and it goes away quickly.

 

I had it myself recently after a night out, as did the Mrs.

 

My point here is that if nobody's reporting it to anybody then they won't know about it. For it to show up in waste water in Bangkok means there's a significant number of people being infected, they're just not going for any kind of treatment - probably because it doesn't require anything you can't find at the pharmacy - or anything at all.

 

When I had it all I took was a decongestant, I didn't even take anything for the fever as is was barely noticeable, I fixed that by altering the AC temperature.

 

 

 

 

Edited August 30, 2023 by ukrules

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

24 minutes ago, ukrules said:

My point here is that if nobody's reporting it to anybody then they won't know about it. For it to show up in waste water in Bangkok means there's a significant number of people being infected, they're just not going for any kind of treatment

I'd say you're right about that.... To detect a particular COVID variant one from another, they need to do genetic sequencing, which isn't exactly a run of the mill test. And, around the world, there's a whole lot less genetic sequencing going on now vs at the heights of the pandemic.

 

The main point, though, regarding BA.2.86 is the scientists say it's probably the most highly mutated version of the COVID virus since the original outbreak, which they believe will enable it to better escape protections from prior COVID vaccinations or infections, which is concerning.

 

But at least from what I've been reading lately, they HAVE NOT found any evidence yet that it causes more severe infections, or that in the real world it's more infectious -- although in theory it should be... Early days still, on this one.

 

[Letseng]

58 minutes ago, 2long said:

Now let's just forget about this silly virus and get on with life..

Oh, hang on.... the agenda of some interested parties means that we will forever be in fear and therefore under their control.

A lot of 'covidiots' and antivaxxers and conspiracy theorists might not have been that far off the mark 3 years ago.

https://twitter.com/TRyanGregory/status/1696861234224590850?s=20

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

1 hour ago, 2long said:

A lot of 'covidiots' and antivaxxers and conspiracy theorists might not have been that far off the mark 3 years ago.

Safe to say they all were pretty far off the mark, including the larger shares of those types who died of COVID because of their mistaken beliefs along the way.

Political party affiliation linked to excess COVID deaths

"Today in JAMA Network Open, researchers published more evidence that personal political leanings may have contributed to excess deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research builds on previous work that has shown that right-wing "red" counties had higher death rates during the pandemic than more left-wing "blue" counties.

 

The study looked at deaths in both Florida and Ohio during the first 22 months of the pandemic and found the overall excess death rate of Republican voters was 15% higher than that of Democrats. The gap widened further once COVID-19 vaccines were introduced."

 

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/political-party-affiliation-linked-excess-covid-deaths

 

Edited August 30, 2023 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[novacova]

33 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Safe to say they all were pretty far off the mark, including the larger shares of those types who died of COVID along the way.

Political party affiliation linked to excess COVID deaths

"Today in JAMA Network Open, researchers published more evidence that personal political leanings may have contributed to excess deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research builds on previous work that has shown that right-wing "red" counties had higher death rates during the pandemic than more left-wing "blue" counties.

 

The study looked at deaths in both Florida and Ohio during the first 22 months of the pandemic and found the overall excess death rate of Republican voters was 15% higher than that of Democrats. The gap widened further once COVID-19 vaccines were introduced."

 

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/political-party-affiliation-linked-excess-covid-deaths

 

Who cares, get past it already. Nothing reported about anything is going to impede me in anyway including New COVID! scares 

Edited August 30, 2023 by novacova
“it” insert

[Keep Right]

1 hour ago, novacova said:

Who cares, get past it already. Nothing reported about anything is going to impede me in anyway including New COVID! scares 

I think it is difficult for the far left to get beyond the need to impose totalitarian face mask mandates. It has something to do with their need to control the masses.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Aug. 28 health newsletter from Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security:

 

"COVID-19 indicators increased in 3 of the 6 WHO regions, and US CDC data show a continued slow but steady rise in COVID-19 activity in the most recent week, with hospitalizations up nearly 22% and deaths from the disease up a little more than 21%. Though the US is in a good position to face this late-summer increase in COVID-19 cases—as well as other respiratory viruses responsible for the majority of fall and winter hospitalizations—the uptick serves as a reminder that the novel coronavirus is here to stay."

 

Source Link

 

-----------------------------------------

 

Most recent Thailand Ministry of Public Health COVID update for the week of Aug 20 - 26:

 

 

https://ddc.moph.go.th/covid19-dashboard/?dashboard=main

 

--256 new COVID hospitalizations

--6 new COVID deaths

--124 COVID cases hospitalized in serious condition

--79 COVID cases hospitalized requiring intubation to breathe

 

Since the start of 2023, 32,488 total COVID hospitalizations and 790 COVID deaths in Thailand.

 

Edited August 30, 2023 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[connda]

47 minutes ago, Keep Right said:

I think it is difficult for the far left to get beyond the need to impose totalitarian face mask mandates. It has something to do with their need to control the masses.

They're trying hard.  They want all the plebs to wear the "Nose-Bag-of-Social-Compliance." 
"Submit commoners." 
Yeah - when Hell freezes over.

[novacova]

4 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Aug. 28 health newsletter from Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security:

 

"COVID-19 indicators increased in 3 of the 6 WHO regions, and US CDC data show a continued slow but steady rise in COVID-19 activity in the most recent week, with hospitalizations up nearly 22% and deaths from the disease up a little more than 21%. Though the US is in a good position to face this late-summer increase in COVID-19 cases—as well as other respiratory viruses responsible for the majority of fall and winter hospitalizations—the uptick serves as a reminder that the novel coronavirus is here to stay."

 

https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Health-Security-Decoded---August-28--2023.html

 

-----------------------------------------

 

Most recent Thailand Ministry of Public Health COVID update for the week of Aug 20 - 26:

 

 

https://ddc.moph.go.th/covid19-dashboard/?dashboard=main

 

--256 new COVID hospitalizations

--6 new COVID deaths

--124 COVID cases hospitalized in serious condition

--79 COVID cases hospitalized requiring intubation to breathe

 

Since the start of 2023, 32,488 total COVID hospitalizations and 790 COVID deaths in Thailand.

 

Where are the statistics on influenza and pneumonia? (non-covid pneumonia) 

[connda]

4 minutes ago, novacova said:

Where are the statistics on influenza and pneumonia? (non-covid pneumonia) 

Covid cured influenza.  Didn't you know?  Probably pneumonia too.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

COVID Omicron carries 4 times the risk of death as flu, new data show

News brief

August 26, 2023

 

The risk of death from SARS-CoV-2 Omicron infection was four times higher than that from influenza in late 2022 and early 2023 in France, a Harvard Medical School researcher reports today in Epidemiology & Infection.

...

Flu was tied to a yearly average of 15,654 deaths during the 2014-15 through 2018-19 seasons and 7,851 deaths from week 33, 2022, to week 12, 2023. During the latter period, 32,607 people died of COVID-19, or their deaths were related to the disease."

 

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/covid-omicron-carries-4-times-risk-death-flu-new-data-show

 

----------------------------------

 

The bottom line

"Although COVID-19 and influenza may look the same to some people, they are definitely different. COVID-19 is more deadly and has the potential to cause more serious illness and complications than the flu.

 

https://www.goodrx.com/conditions/covid-19/flu-vs-coronavirus-mortality-and-death-rates-by-year

 

 

 

Edited August 30, 2023 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[novacova]

5 minutes ago, connda said:

Covid cured influenza.  Didn't you know?  Probably pneumonia too.

It also created a comfy security blanket for them to latch on to  

[novacova]

9 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

people died of COVID-19, or their deaths were related to the disease.

This is the one I get a kick out of, the exaggerated count included traffic accidents, heart attacks and anyone who died with a trace of the virus in their body that died from other causes were put on the covid death list. Nothing is beneath these f-ing desperate wretch’s

[ozimoron]

41 minutes ago, novacova said:

This is the one I get a kick out of, the exaggerated count included traffic accidents, heart attacks and anyone who died with a trace of the virus in their body that died from other causes were put on the covid death list. Nothing is beneath these f-ing desperate wretch’s

People who suggest that's true without links to evidence  are way beneath those desperate wretches.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

"Official" COVID deaths globally have been substantially undercounted, not overcounted:

 

 

https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/coronavirus-excess-deaths-estimates

 

Factcheck: False: COVID deaths are overcounted

"Globally, Wakefield’s research suggests that there were 14.91 million excess deaths in the years 2020-2021, with most of these likely attributable to COVID. That is 2.75 times the deaths reported as COVID deaths."

 

https://amsterdamnews.com/news/2023/04/06/factcheck-false-covid-deaths-are-overcounted/

 

 

 

 

Edited August 30, 2023 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[arithai12]

4 hours ago, Keep Right said:

I think it is difficult for the far left to get beyond the need to impose totalitarian face mask mandates. It has something to do with their need to control the masses.

I am not aware of any "far left" government around the world which imposes face mask mandates.

[Bim Smith]

CDC advice is if you're already vaccinated or had the previous one you're more likely to get it. How convenient a new booster is approved. 

Edited August 30, 2023 by Bim Smith

[Bim Smith]

6 hours ago, novacova said:

Where are the statistics on influenza and pneumonia? (non-covid pneumonia) 

You won't get them unfortunately. Covid replaced them the last three years. The only stats I can find are from 2018 and stated around 60 thousand die each year from pneumonia related illnesses 

[Bim Smith]

Just recovered from an acute respiratory infection. Second time I got it the first being ten years ago. Doctor told me foreigners more likely to get it in Asia as they never been exposed to Asia viruses. It was terrible. If they start ramping up fear mongering nonsense over this cold you know something ain't right. 

[hotchilli]

10 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Two new cases of COVID-19 Omicron sub-variant HK.3 infection have recently been detected in Thailand, but both patients have already recovered and their symptoms were not serious, said Dr. Supakit Sirilak, director-general of the Medical Sciences Department today

So no need to panic then as they've already been treated and recovered.

 

[rwill]

45 minutes ago, Bim Smith said:

CDC advice is if you're already vaccinated or had the previous one you're more likely to get it. How convenient a new booster is approved. 

You are misinterpreting what it says.

[cdnvic]

A post violating our community standards regarding misinformation was removed.

[grubman]

Thailand has a new government so it's time to put the fear of god to the Thai population, can't let them feel comfortable with their every day life

Must have been those dirty farangs again not wearing their masks ????   

[Hockeybik]

OK, two people got the flu, they felt sick for a few days and now they are better. 

[Enoon]

11 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

This may be a bigger concern to worry about regarding a different and highly mutated COVID variant beginning to spread around the globe, including to Thailand:

 

It's mentioned in the very final paragraph of the OP news report here:

 

"As for the BA.2.86 sub-variant, he said that it was detected in waste water in Bangkok in July, but it has not been found in humans yet, although the sub-variant is being kept under watch."

 

From other reports on the same topic:

 

"Regarding the highly mutated BA.2.86 virus, which it recently deemed a variant of interest, the WHO said as of August 23, nine sequences have been reported from five countries. No epidemiological sequences were reported among the patients, and no deaths were reported. Also, two countries—Switzerland and Thailand—have reported the virus in wastewater."

 

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/covid-markers-continue-rise-us-and-globally

 

--------------------------------------

 

Covid Variant BA.2.86 Detected In Thailand Wastewater: Scientist

By CodeBlue | 25 August 2023

 

KUALA LUMPUR, August 25 – The BA.2.86 variant has been detected in Thailand through wastewater sample analysis, adding to the list of countries that have reported the presence of the highly mutated Covid-19 strain.

 

Dr Leshan Wannigama, a physician scientist at the Department of Infectious Diseases and Infection Control at Yamagata Prefectural Hospital in Japan, posted on X last Wednesday about his findings.

 

“After sequencing the SARS-CoV-2 S gene and carefully analysing the data with existing BA.2.86 data I can confirm that our Thailand wastewater samples [are] positive for BA.2.86.”

 

(more)

 

https://codeblue.galencentre.org/2023/08/25/covid-variant-ba-2-86-detected-in-thailand-wastewater-scientist/

 

---------------------------------------

 

What you need to know about BA.2.86, the new ‘highly mutated’ COVID variant

What is BA.2.86? The new, highly mutated "Pirola" variant may be more capable of causing infection in people who are vaccinated or previously had COVID-19, the CDC says.

...

“The critical thing about this variant (BA.2.86) is that it has a whole host of mutations compared to some of the omicron variants that emerged about two years ago,” says Pekosz.

 

The mutations or changes in the virus sequence can affect how contagious a virus is, how well it responds to treatment and how severely it affects people, per the CDC.

 

“It represents a highly mutated form of SARS-CoV-2,” says Pekosz — in other words, BA.2.86 looks very different from the prevailing omicron XBB subvariants circulating."

 

https://www.today.com/health/coronavirus/ba286-pirola-covid-variant-symptoms-rcna100944