Passengers Who Shared A Thai Airways Flight

[stumonster]

Jet passengers get polio shots

July 15, 2007

PASSENGERS who shared a Thai Airways flight with a man diagnosed with poliomyelitis (polio) will be immunised today in Victoria.

A 22-year-old student from Pakistan has been diagnosed with the first case of polio in Australia in 20 years.

He remains in a Melbourne hospital after being admitted on July 7 with the viral disease.

As departmental staff try to contact remaining passengers, about 50 people are expected at the Human Services offices in Melbourne this afternoon.

Passengers also have the option of seeking the immunisation from their GP, department spokesman Bram Alexander said.

“These are the ones we've been able to contact,” he said. “For some people we're offering them their vaccination through their GP.”

The man had been in Pakistan for four months before returning to Australia on Thai Airways flight TG999 departing from Bangkok on July 1 and arriving in Melbourne on July 2.

His five flatmates have been quarantined and must return two negative test results for the virus over coming days before being released, Mr Alexander said.

A national health alert was issued on Friday.

Authorities are trying to contact 249 people who were on the flight, the vast majority (238) of whom live in Melbourne.

AAP

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story...94-2702,00.html

FYI

[Jimjim]

Aren't most people immunized at a young age? I believe I was when I was young.

[Thaddeus]

Aren't most people immunized at a young age? I believe I was when I was young.

Everyone I grew up with was too, but apparently that is not world-wide.

[lazeeboy]

Aren't most people immunized at a young age? I believe I was when I was young.

Everyone I grew up with was too, but apparently that is not world-wide.

when i was immunized it was on a sugar cube

[peter991]

TG999 passengers sought after polio discovered on board

Monday, July 16, 2007

All passengers on flight TG999 Bangkok-Melbourne will be asked to take polio vaccinations after the first discovery of polio in Australia in 20 years was confirmed last Friday.

The July 2nd flight of TG999 saw 250 passengers on board, one of which was the 22-year-old Pakistani student carrying the contagious disease.

So far, nearly half of the passengers on the flight have been reached, with just under 60 passengers already taking up the offer of booster shots.

Though the flight landed in Melbourne with the majority of the passengers living in VIC, it is believed that passengers also came from NSW, QLD, TAS and the ACT.

The patient is currently being held in quarantine at the Box Hill Hospital in Melbourne and it is believed that his polio symptoms are now gone – though he will remain at the hospital until two tests for the disease show negative readings.

Still, authorities released a nation-wide health alert, with all hospital emergency departments around the country being warned to be on the look-out for symptoms.

John Horvath, Australia's Chief Medical Officer had earlier made a statement saying that whilst the case was worrying, airline passengers who travelled with the man were in little danger.

Whilst Australia was deemed polio-free in 2000 by the World Health Organisation (WHO), there are still four countries in the world that the WHO has not recognised as being polio-free, one of which is Pakistan.

The other three remaining countries are Afghanistan, India and Nigeria.

Peter