171 cases of hand-foot-mouth syndrome in Chaiyaphum

CHAIYAPHUM, 15 July 2012 (NNT) - The Chaiyaphum Provincial Public Health Office revealed that the number of children in the province afflicted with hand-foot-mouth syndrome has already exceeded 171, but the strain of disease is not fatal. The office has ordered close monitoring as well as vigilant cleanliness at nurseries, as there are fears the virus will mutate and lead to child fatalities.

Dr. Churat Khusakulrat, Chaiyaphum’s chief health officer, stated that the testing of cases of Cambodian children suffering from hand-foot-mouth syndrome, of which there have been 60 fatalities, revealed they had been inflicted with enterovirus 71, a virulent strain that can cause death. This particular strain has not been detected in Thailand; the strain found in the kingdom is Coxsackie virus 61, a mild strain that often sees outbreaks in Chaiyaphum province.

Child patients range from infants to three years of age, and present with fevers, drooling, small ulcers in the mouth, on the fingers, and toes. The symptoms are not severe and will usually clear up on their own in 3 to 5 days. However, if the patient runs a high fever for more than 3 days, experiences headaches, shortness of breath, insomnia or convulsions, is fidgety, vomits, has nerve problems, experiences facial palsy, or has respiratory failure, he/she should seek immediate medical attention, or the case may become fatal

-- NNT 2012-07-15

Its been 60 deaths for the past couple weeks, does that mean no new death? Maybe the threat is gone.

Its been 60 deaths for the past couple weeks, does that mean no new death? Maybe the threat is gone.

no. It means the ministry of information is lying as fast as it can

The deaths were in Cambodia and may have partially been caused by the use of steroids in treating the symptoms. There is a particularly dangerous strain, but no deaths reported in Thailand as of yet.

Deaths will be hard to cover up and politically quite dangerous.

Considering the gov stopped publishing the numbers of swine flue the last time around because the large number may have hurt tourism, and they will black out bad news from Phuket, I don't believe a WORD they say about anything health related. Kids could be dying at the same rate as they are in Cambodia and I fully believe the Thais would cover it up.

HMF disease is of very little to adults. It is a disease primarily of young children. At this point in time, it will have very, very little, if any impact on tourism.

HMF disease is of very little to adults. It is a disease primarily of young children. At this point in time, it will have very, very little, if any impact on tourism.

That is true.

It is diseases of other regions that tourists will go home with.

HMF disease is of very little to adults. It is a disease primarily of young children. At this point in time, it will have very, very little, if any impact on tourism.

I await the first cases in the touristy areas and let's see.

HMF disease is of very little to adults. It is a disease primarily of young children. At this point in time, it will have very, very little, if any impact on tourism.

I await the first cases in the touristy areas and let's see.

I don't think many tourists hang around in kindergartens mate.

I know that a good few have been closed for a week already in Bangkok, and was the same last year.

AKA 'The Annual Hand, Foot and Mouth' Holiday by TEFLers.

Edited July 15, 201214 yr by EmptyBasementBin

Its been 60 deaths for the past couple weeks, does that mean no new death? Maybe the threat is gone.

no. It means the ministry of information is lying as fast as it can

No one is lying.

Are you aware that the infectious disease reports are tabulated on either a monthly or quarterly basis? Most reporting is done manually.

This means that by the time the data gets to some epidemiologist it is 1-3 months old. In high risk events the reporting may be done on a daily or weekly basis, but it still takes time for the data to be tabulated. A clerk has to open the report, read it,and key in data and then the data base is analyzed. This isn't a fast process.

HMF disease is of very little to adults. It is a disease primarily of young children. At this point in time, it will have very, very little, if any impact on tourism.

I await the first cases in the touristy areas and let's see.

I don't think many tourists hang around in kindergartens mate.

I know that a good few have been closed for a week already in Bangkok, and was the same last year.

AKA 'The Annual Hand, Foot and Mouth' Holiday by TEFLers.

it only takes a couple of headlines. I would guess cambodias tourist numbers took a bit of a dive. Let's see

it only takes a couple of headlines. I would guess cambodias tourist numbers took a bit of a dive. Let's see

Nope, you're talking crap mate.

it only takes a couple of headlines. I would guess cambodias tourist numbers took a bit of a dive. Let's see

Nope, you're talking crap mate.

After bird flu, SARS and the rest, let's see if the daily mall had a headline. "killer bug escapes Cambodia to Thailand"

Daily Mail readers would think that Thailand and Cambodia are Welsh cities mate.

Daily Mail readers would think that Thailand and Cambodia are Welsh cities mate.

Well they are a part of the demographic that Thailand claims to want to target.

Mediterranean sun 3 hours travel or Thailand 10 hours?

The only headline that would keep The Daily Mail readers away would be 'Thailand rounds up and executes all 69,000,000 prostitutes. Thai Sex-Tourism finished'.

Its been 60 deaths for the past couple weeks, does that mean no new death? Maybe the threat is gone.

no. It means the ministry of information is lying as fast as it can

No one is lying.

Are you aware that the infectious disease reports are tabulated on either a monthly or quarterly basis? Most reporting is done manually.

This means that by the time the data gets to some epidemiologist it is 1-3 months old. In high risk events the reporting may be done on a daily or weekly basis, but it still takes time for the data to be tabulated. A clerk has to open the report, read it,and key in data and then the data base is analyzed. This isn't a fast process.

The they are knowingly providing out of date, hence incorrect, statistics.

Remember Thaksin and bird flu? I do!

Its been 60 deaths for the past couple weeks, does that mean no new death? Maybe the threat is gone.

no. It means the ministry of information is lying as fast as it can

No one is lying.

Are you aware that the infectious disease reports are tabulated on either a monthly or quarterly basis? Most reporting is done manually.

This means that by the time the data gets to some epidemiologist it is 1-3 months old. In high risk events the reporting may be done on a daily or weekly basis, but it still takes time for the data to be tabulated. A clerk has to open the report, read it,and key in data and then the data base is analyzed. This isn't a fast process.

The they are knowingly providing out of date, hence incorrect, statistics.

Remember Thaksin and bird flu? I do!

On what basis are you making this claim? Are you aware that the U.S. CDC, has a facility in Thailand? Are you aware that there are WHO personnel in the field in the region? Are you aware that multiple European countries and Australia have reputable scientists circulating in and out of Thailand ? It would require quite a conspiracy cooked up by multiple nations to try and "cover up" this epidemic.

Knowingly providing out of date data? Do you want me to walk you through the reporting process? Acurate reporting requires the following;

1. Infected people must seek medical assistance. In mild cases, and in rural areas where access to medical care is limited, people do not visit a hospital and do not seek care through the system.

2. The attending facility which responds to a monitored infectious disease must file a report. Most Thai facilities, particularly those in rural regions still use snail mail. There has to be someone who will complete the form in triplicate. Then the form works it way through the secretarial staff before finally getting put in an envelope and mailed to Bangkok. This can take a few days.

3. The mail eventually arrives at the MoH in Bangkok where it is sorted and opened and sent off to the relevant department. This can add a few days.

4. A MoH clerk will then read the report and tabulate which diseases have been reported. Then the data has to be keyed into the tracking program. This can take several days. Someone is them supposed to check the data entry to ensure accuracy. This adds more days.

5. The cumulative data then gets summed in a spread sheet and various modeling methods are employed. A region by region case review is made. This too takes several days.

By the time the data collection process is complete, one is running a lag of 2-4 weeks because of the data collection. It is like this with every epidemic in SE Asia. It also was evidenced during the H1N1 pandemic in North America. Despite having state of the art reporting systems in North America, it took some health districts over a month to forward their data.

Edited July 16, 201214 yr by geriatrickid

On what basis are you making this claim? Are you aware that the U.S. CDC, has a facility in Thailand? Are you aware that there are WHO personnel in the field in the region? Are you aware that multiple European countries and Australia have reputable scientists circulating in and out of Thailand ? It would require quite a conspiracy cooked up by multiple nations to try and "cover up" this epidemic.

Knowingly providing out of date data? Do you want me to walk you through the reporting process? Acurate reporting requires the following;

1. Infected people must seek medical assistance. In mild cases, and in rural areas where access to medical care is limited, people do not visit a hospital and do not seek care through the system.

2. The attending facility which responds to a monitored infectious disease must file a report. Most Thai facilities, particularly those in rural regions still use snail mail. There has to be someone who will complete the form in triplicate. Then the form works it way through the secretarial staff before finally getting put in an envelope and mailed to Bangkok. This can take a few days.

3. The mail eventually arrives at the MoH in Bangkok where it is sorted and opened and sent off to the relevant department. This can add a few days.

4. A MoH clerk will then read the report and tabulate which diseases have been reported. Then the data has to be keyed into the tracking program. This can take several days. Someone is them supposed to check the data entry to ensure accuracy. This adds more days.

5. The cumulative data then gets summed in a spread sheet and various modeling methods are employed. A region by region case review is made. This too takes several days.

By the time the data collection process is complete, one is running a lag of 2-4 weeks because of the data collection. It is like this with every epidemic in SE Asia. It also was evidenced during the H1N1 pandemic in North America. Despite having state of the art reporting systems in North America, it took some health districts over a month to forward their data.

"On what basis are you making this claim?"

"Are you aware that the infectious disease reports are tabulated on either a monthly or quarterly basis? Most reporting is done manually."