Hong Kong Man Ill With Swine Flu After Phuket Holiday

[churchill]

PHUKET CITY: A 33-year-old man from Hong Kong fell ill with human swine influenza following a stay on Phuket, the Gazette has learned.

The Hong Kong Department of Health said the man visited Phuket with a friend from June 4 to 8. He reportedly developed a cough on June 7.

The travelers returned to Hong Kong on Dragonair flight KA213 on June 8 at about 10.30pm.

The sick man sat in row 26 of the flight.

On returning to Hong Kong he declared his symptoms in the health declaration form and did not pass temperature screening.

He was taken to by ambulance to Princess Margaret Hospital, where he was placed in quarantine.

Dr Phadungkiat Uthoksaynee of Phuket Public Health Office said, “The Bureau of Epidemiology has already examined the information and reaffirmed that Thailand is not a source country for the disease. Most of our cases are import cases.”

Dr Phadungkiat said there have been 13 cases of swine flu so far in Thailand.

All became infected abroad except in one case where a 19-year-old Thai male caught the disease, in Bangkok, from his mother after she was infected during a stay in the United States, he said.

“In Phuket we haven’t had a single case of the disease yet, not even an import case,” Dr Phadungkiat said.

There have been 19 suspected cases on the island, but all had tested negative for swine flu, he added.

“The Bureau of Epidemiology confirms that the Hong Kong man was not infected in Thailand. The man could have been infected in Hong Kong or somewhere else before coming to Thailand,” he said.

“He definitely wasn’t infected in Phuket,” Dr Phagungkiat insisted.

http://www.phuketgazette.net/news/index.as...0&display=1

-- Phuket Gazette 10/06/09

[churchill]

This after two Taiwanese returned home after visiting Pattaya and were found to be infected .

"Taiwan has alerted Thailand that two Taiwanese who returned from Thailand were found infected by the influenza 2009, Thai Public Health Minister Witthaya Kaewparadia said Tuesday, Witthaya said the Thai side will ask Taiwan's health agency to provide more information on the Taiwanese such as where they visited during their trip in Thailand."

posted yesterday http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Taiwanese-Re...ec-t271732.html

Edited June 10, 2009 by churchill

[churchill]

A Bangkok school suspends classes in an influenza scare

A private school in Dusit district suspends Grade 6 classes for three days after a student of the school was infected by the influenza 2009.

The 11-year-old student had no record of travelling to a foreign country, therefore, the ministry's investigation focused on the school and the boy's classmates.

Other patients of the flu had record of travelling abroad.

Deputy Public Health Minister Manit Nopamornbhodi refused to reveal name of the school.

"Three classes of Grade 6 of the school will be suspended for three days, starting on June 11

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/30104...n-an-influenza-

[dee123]

http://www.chinapost.tw/taiwan/national/na.../eight-more.htm if the link works u will see that yesterday(10th June) 8 more taiwanese returning from Thailand were "confirmed to have been infected with swine flu upon their return"....if there is one lesson to be learned from this it is; scanners in either country did not prevent this occurring.They either picked it up from Taiwan or Thailand,, but currently both countrys think it came from the other side!! Edited June 10, 2009 by dee123

[george]

Duplicate thread, already posted as news item.