Malaria rife in South Thailand

[goatfarmer]

A kind request: Please refrain from personal attacks and stay with the facts. Posting when agitated is not advisable. Think over your posts once or twice before you send them, then we wont have to edit them for you afterwards.

Cheers.

meadish

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Some of us I edit them while reading them

[george]

TNA Update:

Malaria rampant in the South

BANGKOK: -- The Thai government has stepped up efforts to eliminate mosquitoes in the southern border provinces amid fears that malaria has become rampant in parts of the region.

In the southern province of Chumporn in May there has been a 140 percent increase in malaria cases compared to the same period last year.

The government has launched a fresh campaign to wipe out the mosquitoes in the province, according to the head of the Communicable Disease Control Department, Dr. Thawat Suntracharn.

Ten doctor's offices, five mobile medical units and another eight medical teams from nearby provinces are involved in the effort to prevent the spread of the mosquito-borne disease.

People with malaria-like symptoms should immediately seek medical attention, Dr.Thawat urged.

The authorities hope to bring the disease under control within a month, he added.

Although the number of malaria patients throughout the country has fallen, the number of malaria cases in some areas, particularly in the southern provinces grew significantly last month.

Local residents should use chemical-coated mosquito nets and mosquito repellents, he advised.

Tourists who go camping in the forests should take anti-malarial medicines. Employers should make their migrant workers have medical check-ups this month, Dr. Thawat said.

Three government officials and six tourists contracted the disease while in the Khao Yai national park, he said. But this is common at time of year.

There is no epidemic, he insisted and the disease was now under control.

--TNA 2005-06-09

[Greer]

"GREAT just what Phuket needs,

Bird flu Sars

Tsunami Terrorists

now Malaria!!

When will it all end???? "

When the Thais (mainly but everyone in Thailand for that matter including YOU) clean up the toxic mess they continue to make each and everyday in Thailand.

Mosquitoes come from dead toxic environments

(I.e. no fish because there all dead from toxic chemicals, lots of bugs/ mosquitoes etc thrive without them, get it?)

Also the very poor modern Thai diet is a big part of the problem. Truly healthy people can’t get diseases plain and simple.

They are blaming the Burmese so it can look like it’s not really a Thai problem and to take the spotlight off the issue so tourist money wont stop coming in.

Put the chemical companies out of biz and you will solve the problem a lot quicker! Provide organic high quality healthy foods without chemicals and the people will eat well & be strong and beat any and all diseases.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I quite agree that the environment in Asia in general is not up to scratch, and of course Thailand is one of the problem countries.

I am not so sure about the statement that healthy people (as a result of a healthy lifestyle and good food) will remain healthy and not catch diseases.

I say this because my uncle was a complete health fanatic; he lived in Manly, a suburb of Sydney, Australia, and right at the beach. He was very careful to eat absolutely correctly,but suddenly died of cancer.

A healthy diet and lifestyle is absolutely to be recommended, as is the very laudable goal of cleaning up the environment...my difficulty revolves around the fact that malaria is caused by a parasite injected into the body by a mosquito bite, and although I admit that I may be wrong, and I expect that a healthy person may have more resources to fight such an invasion, being healthy will not prevent you from being bitten and exposed to this parasite.

I worry that people may get the impression that being healthy, on it's own, will protect you from malaria (or dengue for that matter), which unfortunately it won't.

Do understand that I fully support the concept of promoting healthy lifestyles and a better environment - but don't get me started on the greenhouse effect and global warming - leave that for another thread!

Edited June 9, 2005 by Greer

[Galong]

This is fun... mud slingin', finger pointin', name callin'... makes me feel like I'm a politican.

BTW, I caught malaria four years ago in Trang of all places. The doctors here in Phuket mis-diagnosed it twice. First, they said I had Typhoid. When I didn't get better, they took those pills back and gave me medicine for Dengue Fever (is there such a thing... I don't know). They finally did a full blood test and vwalla! Plasmodium Vivax. They gave me some little black pills and with a few hours I was a new man.

A couple of buddies got the bad strain in Laos and almost died.

Keep the funny postings going.

[Scott]

One of the nice things about reading the posts, is that when misinformation occurs, there is usually someone better informed who corrects it--they in turn might be corrected by someone who is completely up-to-date. In the end people point us who are interested to web-sites and sources where we can get all the info we want.

I don't see why it is necessary to demean people for posting an idea that may not be absolutely correct.

With regard to the possible misquote of the use of vaccine. I hope someone will hold the reporters responsible for poor translation. These are professional people who need to take great care before publishing things that aren't correct.

[Khun Larry]

There's NO such thing as a malaria vaccine.

He probably said/meant that they could give a malaria prophylaxis, or that malaria could be effectively treated once someone was ill.

It was probably another case of poor translation and lamentable use of English such as the Pattaya Mail's recent reference to "soar throats" and "penile servitude."

I have no doubt that the doctor knows what he’s talking about...in Thai.

Rather than criticize what he was reported as saying in a dubious English translation, why not read the original Thai text of what was said? …assuming your apparent expertise in all things extends to understanding the language of the country in which you reside.

Of course, it's a whole lot easier to play pseudo-colonial disdainer of all you survey.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Kaojai, why you critize a Farang's astute observation and blindly believe this useless Dr.?

maikaojai leoi

[Pls make your point without resorting to insults. /meadish]

Edited June 9, 2005 by meadish_sweetball

[Khun Larry]

Go easy on the CDC (Communicable Disease Control) Department.  I know many of them through having taught English there for about 3 months. 

They are thoroughly professional in the jobs that they do, and careless reporting and quoting of officials, including translation errors probably led to the idea of 'vaccines' being available to treat malaria.

Instead of carping on about this, why not do something about supporting the fight to control malaria yourself?

On Saturday 3rd December 2005, why not 'swim for malaria'

Laulen

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I don't see any reason to suspect a translation error at all.

As for the swim, no thanks. Just another scam where the majority of the money is taken by the organizers.

[capt_canada42]

There's NO such thing as a malaria vaccine.

He probably said/meant that they could give a malaria prophylaxis, or that malaria could be effectively treated once someone was ill.

It was probably another case of poor translation and lamentable use of English such as the Pattaya Mail's recent reference to "soar throats" and "penile servitude."

I have no doubt that the doctor knows what he’s talking about...in Thai.

Rather than criticize what he was reported as saying in a dubious English translation, why not read the original Thai text of what was said? …assuming your apparent expertise in all things extends to understanding the language of the country in which you reside.

Of course, it's a whole lot easier to play pseudo-colonial disdainer of all you survey.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I don't really think Kaojai is an appropriate name for you to use.

I don't need to read the Thai text to see what it said, the word for vaccine in Thai is vaccine, just spelled with Thai letters.

I find it very unlikely that someone made a "dubious" translation error translating vaccine from vaccine.

My guess is the good doctor, is more of a politician than a doctor.

And probably is dumb enough to not know there isn't a commonly

used vaccine for malaryia.

(I am sure they are not giving Burmese migrant workers, exotic and I am sure costly vaccines designed by the US Army)

Why couldn't he be that stupid, his boss is telling everyone to turn off their lights and drive slower to save energy. My maid could come up with a better plan than that.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Your maid well lets eat the rich! Where did you say you live I will sharpen up my knife and get the fork and BBQ ready

[Johpa]

I am not so sure about the statement that healthy people (as a result of a healthy lifestyle and good food) will remain healthy and not catch diseases.

A healthy diet and lifestyle is absolutely to be recommended, as is the very laudable goal of cleaning up the environment...my difficulty revolves around the fact that malaria is caused by a parasite injected into the body by a mosquito bite, and although I admit that I may be wrong, and I expect that a healthy person may have more resources to fight such an invasion, being healthy will not prevent you from being bitten and exposed to this parasite.

My wife grew up in isolated rural areas of Thailand where malaria use to be endemic. There are few elderly people one meets who did not contract the disease at one time. Fatalities were usually limited to the very young and the elderly. So clearly a healthy person stands a better chance of fighting off malaria and might be able to avoid the worst symtoms. But that health will have no impact upon contracting the disease.

Those of you marrying into Thai families should be made aware that like other parts of the globe where malaria is/was endemic, the population will have a normal distribution of thalassemia, which means that in some populations around 30% of the population may be carriers. Note that to be a carrier of a recessive gene is, by itself, not cause for concern. So if your family comes from say a Mediterranean background where thalessemia is also genetically distributed you might want to do some blood testing for awareness sake.

I became informed about this after my son's blood showed a minor irregularity as an infant, think something to do with a slightly abnormal iron content, on standard blood tests. After further testing he, as well as his mother, carried two variations of thalassemia, so I read up on the subject at the local medical school library.

[cookiesunshinex]

There's NO such thing as a malaria vaccine.

He probably said/meant that they could give a malaria prophylaxis, or that malaria could be effectively treated once someone was ill.

It was probably another case of poor translation and lamentable use of English such as the Pattaya Mail's recent reference to "soar throats" and "penile servitude."

I have no doubt that the doctor knows what he’s talking about...in Thai.

Rather than criticize what he was reported as saying in a dubious English translation, why not read the original Thai text of what was said? …assuming your apparent expertise in all things extends to understanding the language of the country in which you reside.

Of course, it's a whole lot easier to play pseudo-colonial disdainer of all you survey.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That's one of the best posts I've ever seen on this board. I see way too much cynism here. It's easy to complain about this or complain about that. Everyone's a critic.

Not too many mentions of the wonderful things that occur on a daily basis in Thailand versus home...wherever home might be.

But alas, conflict and confrontation (the thing that alot of us have escaped from in the west) is the easiest and most comfortable method of communication for some.

....not to mention provides a lot of content here on the boards.

[bina]

what is the connection between thelasemia and malaria??

is it causal, or make u predisposed? or less likely to get malaria, or what??

Being a carrier of the disease confers a degree of protection against malaria, and is quite common among people from Italian or Greek origin, since malaria was widespread in those countries at a time. In that respect it resembles another genetic disease, sickle-cell anemia.---

among n. african jews also, BTW....

but this doesnt explain why??? or how??? it helps against malaria

Edited June 9, 2005 by bina

[sriracha john]

There's NO such thing as a malaria vaccine.

He probably said/meant that they could give a malaria prophylaxis, or that malaria could be effectively treated once someone was ill.

It was probably another case of poor translation and lamentable use of English such as the Pattaya Mail's recent reference to "soar throats" and "penile servitude."

I have no doubt that the doctor knows what he’s talking about...in Thai.

Rather than criticize what he was reported as saying in a dubious English translation, why not read the original Thai text of what was said? …assuming your apparent expertise in all things extends to understanding the language of the country in which you reside.

Of course, it's a whole lot easier to play pseudo-colonial disdainer of all you survey.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That's one of the best posts I've ever seen on this board. I see way too much cynism here. It's easy to complain about this or complain about that. Everyone's a critic.

Not too many mentions of the wonderful things that occur on a daily basis in Thailand versus home...wherever home might be.

But alas, conflict and confrontation (the thing that alot of us have escaped from in the west) is the easiest and most comfortable method of communication for some.

....not to mention provides a lot of content here on the boards.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That might be the situation in some threads, but not this one. I merely pointed out a factual error and it got twisted into something quite different. I don't doubt Kaojai had the best intentions for the basis of his statement, but he picked the wrong thread and wrong post to post it on.

[sriracha john]

Now, hopefully we can get back to the issue at hand... rather than discussing supposed motivations behind legitimate posts. The problem is not limited to the South, but also is occuring in the Northeast as below:

MALARIA ALERT: Trekkers warned: take precautions

Published on Jun 09 , 2005

Jungle trek enthusiasts have been warned to beware of malaria infection after three rangers contracted the disease during recent patrols in the Nakhon Ratchasima park.

The park rangers were hospitalised and diagnosed with malaria after they returned from deep forest patrols in the national park.

The rangers are Vicharn Pluemkamol, 33; Khampond Phuchampa, 44; and Saneh Raksachart, 22.

The rangers had high fevers, severe headaches and were extremely frail.

Two of them are on the mend, but Khampond is in a coma with a lung infection, he said.

The rangers may have contracted the disease from domestic malaria-carrying mosquitoes that normally breed in deep forests.

People who trek into the jungle should be particularly careful about protecting themselves from mosquitoes, he said.

"Sleep in a mosquito-proof tent and put on mosquito-repellent lotion. It is easy to take precautions but some people forget, particularly when they are drunk," he said.

Villagers who live in the vicinity of other national parks should also be wary, he said.

People should keep an eye out for symptoms such as high fever and trembling muscles about two weeks after travelling into jungles, he said.

"Infected people should visit their doctor and get a blood test immediately after jungle treks," he said.

All nine cases reported in Nakhon Ratchasima this year were contracted in areas around forests.

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

an additional note:

This is the offending, dastardly life form:

Anopheles mosquito with a bellyful of blood.

[george]

MALARIA alert: Trekkers warned: take precautions

Three park rangers contract disease while on patrol deep in the jungle

KHAO YAI: -- Jungle trek enthusiasts at Khao Yai National Park have been warned to beware of malaria infection after three rangers contracted the disease during recent patrols in the Nakhon Ratchasima park.

The park rangers were hospitalised and diagnosed with malaria after they returned from deep forest patrols in the national park.

The rangers are Vicharn Pluemkamol, 33; Khampond Phuchampa, 44; and Saneh Raksachart, 22.

Dr Thawat Suntharacharn, director of the Disease Control Department, said the rangers had high fevers, severe headaches and were extremely frail.

Two of them are on the mend, but Khampond is in a coma with a lung infection, he said.

The rangers may have contracted the disease from domestic malaria-carrying mosquitoes that normally breed in deep forests, Thawat said.

People who trek into the jungle should be particularly careful about protecting themselves from mosquitoes, he said.

"Sleep in a mosquito-proof tent and put on mosquito-repellent lotion. It is easy to take precautions but some people forget, particularly when they are drunk," he said.

Villagers who live in the vicinity of other national parks should also be wary, he said.

People should keep an eye out for symptoms such as high fever and trembling muscles about two weeks after travelling into jungles, he said.

"Infected people should visit their doctor and get a blood test immediately after jungle treks," he said.

Thawat said most malaria victims had contracted the disease in jungles near border areas. All nine cases reported in Nakhon Ratchasima this year were contracted in forests in the border areas of Trat and Prachin Buri.

The increase in malaria cases in some areas this year was attributed to more illegal alien workers crossing the border while already infected with the disease.

"But there is no need to panic. Big cities like Bangkok don't have such mosquitoes, and infected patients cannot spread the disease to others," he said.

--The Nation 2005-06-10

[Jai Dee]

Three government officials and six tourists contracted the disease while in the Khao Yai national park, he said. But this is common at time of year.

Lesson for everyone here... malaria is not just limited to the south of Thailand.

Be careful out there...

[Bonkers]

Seems like some farangs woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning :-) ....or perhaps didn't go to bed last night?

I wait with baited breath for the next slug. By the looks of it, we could have a shoot-out by sundown the way some of these threads are going.

Let me know where and when; undoubtedly it would be far more enjoyable a spectacle than the usual Friday evening offerings.

[Jai Dee]

Seems like some farangs woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning :-)  ....or perhaps didn't go to bed last night?

I wait with baited breath for the next slug. By the looks of it, we could have a shoot-out by sundown the way some of these threads are going.

Let me know where and when; undoubtedly it would be far more enjoyable a spectacle than the usual Friday evening offerings.

I hope not Bonkers...

John was simply stating facts, and not being confrontational at all.

Is is a serious topic and should be taken seriously.

[george]

Malaria takes three lives in Surat Thani

SURAT THAINI: -- Malaria has claimed three lives and infected more than 1,000 people in this southern province.

Somboon Nunual, chief of Surat Thani's insect-borne epidemic control centre, told a meeting yesterday on haemorrhagic dengue fever and malaria, chaired by deputy governor Thawatchai Therdpaothai, that blood tests on 64,668 people in Surat Thani during January-May this year found 1,042 people infected with malaria.

Blood tests on 6,454 people on June 1-8 found another 204 people in eight districts had malaria, showing the disease has spread to 70% of the province.

Malaria had killed three patients at Surat Thani Hospital _ a Thai woman and a Burmese worker from Phanom district and a Kanchanaburi man. The province was drafting anti-malaria measures.

--Bangkok Post 2005-06-11

[phuketrichard]

Phuket is 3 hours due west of Surat.

Ranong is 3 hours north

Phan Nga is 45 minutes east

If it isn't here ( which even if it was do you think they would say so??)

how long till it reaches here

Get real guys

[donna]

With regard to the person who said that if you are healthy you shouldn't get Malaria, I say that't rubbish.

I consider myself to be pretty healthy and I have had Malaria 4 times now. I have no idea where I got it from. The first time I got sick I was working in Indonesia, but had only been there a few weeks. The other three times I was here in Thailand.

I used to work as a Tour Leader, so my job took me from one end of the country the other, so I could have picked it up anywhere.

First time around, Malaria is pretty hard to pick up in a blood test. This is common knowledge among the medical professionals I have spoken to. It was suspected that I had Dengue Fever, but a blood test proved that I did not have Dengue, and never had it before (yep, there is a blood test for that). In fact, I was not diagnosed with anything this first time around, and that is after being medivac'd out of Indonesia into Australia. 5 weeks of blood tests came up with zilch.

The only way I knew it was Malaria the second time around was because I was in Sangkhlaburi and went down like a ton of bricks in about half an hour with the exact same symptoms as only 6 weeks before. I went to the clinic up there with fever of 41.5 and was rushed to Kanchanaburi Memorial where I was diagnosed with Malaria within half an hour.

To PhuketRichard, it is probably there already. From what I understand, Khao Sok has a major outbreak every year too. Phanom has a special malaria hospital (or clinic) because there is so much of it down there.

Malaria is something I wouldn't wish upon anyone. To be well and running around in the morning, and by the afternoon to be bed ridden with terrible shakes and fevers is pretty scary.

But what is the solution for it? We could all empty the stagnant water pots sitting around our houses, change water in pot plant saucers, put little fish in any big pots of water (lillies etc) to eat the larvae, and KILL ANY OF THE LITTLE BUGGERS IF YOU SEE THEM!

[sriracha john]

With regard to the person who said that if you are healthy you shouldn't get Malaria, I say that't rubbish. 

I consider myself to be pretty healthy and I have had Malaria 4 times now.  I have no idea where I got it from.  The first time I got sick I was working in Indonesia, but had only been there a few weeks.  The other three times I was here in Thailand. 

I used to work as a Tour Leader, so my job took me from one end of the country the other, so I could have picked it up anywhere. 

First time around, Malaria is pretty hard to pick up in a blood test.  This is common knowledge among the medical professionals I have spoken to.  It was suspected that I had Dengue Fever, but a blood test proved that I did not have Dengue, and never had it before (yep, there is a blood test for that).  In fact, I was not diagnosed with anything this first time around, and that is after being medivac'd out of Indonesia into Australia.  5 weeks of blood tests came up with zilch. 

The only way I knew it was Malaria the second time around was because I was in Sangkhlaburi and went down like a ton of bricks in about half an hour with the exact same symptoms as only 6 weeks before.  I went to the clinic up there with fever of 41.5 and was rushed to Kanchanaburi Memorial where I was diagnosed with Malaria within half an hour. 

To PhuketRichard, it is probably there already.  From what I understand, Khao Sok has a major outbreak every year too.  Phanom has a special malaria hospital (or clinic) because there is so much of it down there. 

Malaria is something I wouldn't wish upon anyone.  To be well and running around in the morning, and by the afternoon to be bed ridden with terrible shakes and fevers is pretty scary. 

But what is the solution for it?  We could all empty the stagnant water pots sitting around our houses, change water in pot plant saucers, put little fish in any big pots of water (lillies etc) to eat the larvae, and KILL ANY OF THE LITTLE BUGGERS IF YOU SEE THEM!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Glad to hear you are ok, now.

You are quite correct in that it is difficult to detect. Most often, it's only detectable during the extreme febrile stage, which is why they probably were able to diagnose it in Sanghlaburi. Malaria is cyclic in that one suffers extremely high temperatures followed by times without a fever at all. Usually the parasites are dectable only during the fever peaks. During a very high peak, it can also result in what is known as cerebral malaria, which causes irreversible brain damage and psychosis. During my work at a hospital in the Philippines, this happened on 3 different occasions. All were very young and healthy, fit Marines that had been on jungle maneuvers. All were sent back to the U.S. to live out their years in Veterans hospitals as severely brain-damaged vegetables.... VERY sad, indeed. And yes, Jaidee, a VERY serious topic.

[sbk]

Phuket is 3 hours due west of Surat. 

Ranong is 3 hours north

Phan Nga is 45 minutes east

If it isn't here ( which even if it was do you think they would say so??)

how long till it reaches here

Get real guys

Actually, I live on Koh Phangan, so, if anything I am closer. Koh Phangan had a couple of malaria cases about 3-4 years ago, on the NORTH side, a whole 12 km away but none on the South side. We were never sure if those people had contracted it there or elsewhere but as there hasn't been any more reported cases it does make one wonder. That said, if it was from local moquitoes why haven't they migrated over the hills from the other side?

And from a british website:

Mosquito breeding sites:  Malaria vectors breed in clean, unpolluted stagnant water and do not breed in polluted sewage water. For malaria control it is important to discriminate between the potential breeding places of malaria mosquitoes and polluted habitats. In urban areas, malaria vectors breed in a variety of habitats including: pools, borrow pits, water holes, wells, puddles formed alongside streams, man-made habitats such as vehicle ruts, vegetable gardens, drains and marshy areas at the periphery of towns. In rural areas, larvae are found in semipermanent rain pools, overflow water, roadside ditches, clogged drainage ditches, wheel ruts, hoof prints and natural depressions. Where non-malaria transmitting mosquitoes breeding in polluted water, such as Culex which contribute to 'mosquito nuisance', breed alongside malaria mosquitoes, attempts should be made to control both types of mosquitoes if the people at risk are to perceive the benefits of malaria control efforts.

[Johpa]

what is the connection between thelasemia and malaria??

is it causal, or make u predisposed? or less likely to get malaria, or what??

Being a carrier of the disease confers a degree of protection against malaria, and is quite common among people from Italian or Greek origin, since malaria was widespread in those countries at a time. In that respect it resembles another genetic disease, sickle-cell anemia.---

among n. african jews also, BTW....

but this doesnt explain why??? or how??? it helps against malaria

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I apologize that I do not remember exactly as I read up on this nearly 15 years ago. From what I remember thalassemia is the most common human genetic disorder arising from a mutation. Its various forms are found globally in conjunction with malaria. Sickle cell anemia is a form of thalessmia found in Africa. The initial genetic research was conducted on Mediterranean populations and thus the generic name.

Being but a carrier, you get the recessive gene from a single parent, provides some protection against malaria or against the more severe symptoms as the red blood cell's hemoglobin are slightly deformed and thus offer a less than desirable host environment to the parasite which evolved to inhabit healthy human cells. It provides enough of a Darwinian advantage to overcome the resulting loss of life due to full blown thalessmia where both parents contribute the recessive gene to their offspring ( a one on four chance where both parents carry the exact same mutation) who then rarely survives to breed. In other words, having the mutation around saves more of the breeding population from death by malaria than it kills on its own. The only disdavantge to being a carrier is the odds are against that person competing in a marathon held in Denver.

[george]

Follow-up:

Malaria, dengue ‘will be under control in 6 weeks’

Disease control officials said yesterday outbreaks of dengue fever and malaria will be put under control in six weeks, and that the overall situation has improved in seven affected southern provinces, especially Chumphon, Ranong and Phang Nga.

Chaisombut Jaisawang, head of the Nakhon Si Thammarat disease control office, said of-ficials were trying to contain the current outbreak of dengue fever and malaria, and that they were working to stop the spread of the infections.

Officials have educated local people on how to protect themselves, Chaisombat said, and he expects them to have dengue fever under control in six weeks.

He said there has been a 9 per cent decrease in reports of dengue fever throughout the province, 30 per cent less than incidents of malaria last year.

Migrant workers from other regions are more likely to contract the disease than local people, he said.

Meanwhile, Nakhon Si Thammarat’s Health Division said in a report that 50 people have contracted malaria, while 600 others are suffering from dengue fever.

The authorities discussed measures to fight the spread of the disease and expect to soon control the affected areas in Thung Song, Thung Yai, Na Bon, Chawang and Phibun districts.

--The Nation 2005-06-13

[mnoorsapl]

Follow-up:

Malaria, dengue ‘will be under control in 6 weeks’

Disease control officials said yesterday outbreaks of dengue fever and malaria will be put under control in six weeks, and that the overall situation has improved in seven affected southern provinces, especially Chumphon, Ranong and Phang Nga.

--The Nation 2005-06-13

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

6 weeks huh, .

Don't see the urgency to control the outbreak.

[sriracha john]

Just another meaningless deadline....

same as the 30 days given to end Southern violence or the 30 days to end bird flu or any number of other meaningless deadlines put forth by Mr. T