Nearly 200 T B Cases Found In 800 Bangkok Nightspots

[webfact]

Nearly 200 TB cases found in 800 Bangkok nightspots
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- During the past year, 186 cases of suspected tuberculosis have been found at more than 800 night venues in Bangkok, of which 24 have been confirmed.

"If we can identify TB at its early stage, there's a good chance of full recovery and of preventing the spread of the disease," Somsak Akksilp, deputy director-general of the Disease Control Department, said Tuesday.

Screenings were conducted on 15,982 people with the financial support of the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

Night staff often lack adequate rest and their workplaces are usually crowded and not well ventilated, so they have a higher risk of contracting TB.


-- The Nation 2013-04-23

[soi41]

Wonder how many STD-cases they would find in the same nightspots??

[moe666]

I donot know about the nightspots but what about the wetspots

[writeshack]

Exaggerated headline, 186 is not 'nearly 200', and the intro is gibberish .... 186 cases in 800 bars - that's about one-quarter of an infection in each bar. Story's not worth reading.

[Docno]

Exaggerated headline, 186 is not 'nearly 200', and the intro is gibberish .... 186 cases in 800 bars - that's about one-quarter of an infection in each bar. Story's not worth reading.

Sorry, I don't get your point (but I am short on coffee today). So you calculate an average of about 'one-quarter infection per bar' and conclude the 'story's not worth reading'? You expected the result to be a whole number otherwise it's meaningless to you? Roughly one infection on average per four bars is not worthy of concern?

Edited April 23, 2013 by Docno

[writeshack]

It's the way it's written I'm criticising. Of course Tb is serious, I didn't suggest otherwise.

[itchybum]

All that coughing in your drink as they serve you.

Those pesky beer pourers that refuse to leave your glass alone, touching it all the time after coughing in their hands.

Bottles better.

[slapout]

The TB test that I am familar with, does give a positive indication on many people from this part of the world, due to their having been exposed, at some time, during their life.

A second positive test is not uncommon then Xray and or saliva test is for confirmation of active desease. As mentioned, treatment is avaliable, with good chance of cure, if caught early enough.

24 cases out of 16,000_ tested may be more linked to where they came from, diet, etc, than the venue they were working in. Wonder how many were positive for HIV, and or Malaria? A lot of useful info could have been passed on via this news release, with a little homework/forethought.

[Sydebolle]

800 bars, of which they found 186 cases. Well, I must have missed that part in Math class then!

[HarryMilton]

800 bars, of which they found 186 cases. Well, I must have missed that part in Math class then!

Clearly you did. You could probably find a maths tutor on here to help you though.

[tonglen]

I would have liked to have finished reading this article but I cant read my blood-spattered screen as I was coughing.

[Dr Wanchai]

It's the way it's written I'm criticising. Of course Tb is serious, I didn't suggest otherwise.

Why don't you write to the newspaper instead of moaning here ! You can offer them your services free !!

They will be more than pleased.

[aguy30]

"186 cases of suspected tuberculosis have been found at more than 800 night venues in Bangkok, of which 24 have been confirmed"

The proper headline should read:

24 confirmed cases of tuberculosis have been found at more than 800 night venues that were tested in Bangkok

The trivial details of who was tested such as customers, workers, locations, type of venue and their clientele would have been nice. It makes a huge difference if it is go go bars around Silom, bars and clubs in Khao San Road or Isan night spots in Klong Toey.

[fish fingers]

TB is often a sign of HIV infection

[aguy30]

24 confirmed cases out of 15,982 people tested. That's only 0.15% or 1 in 666.

I wonder what the results would have been if the test had been conducted at Central World, MBK or any place in Thailand. Perhaps even higher. A previous exposure from years ago might also be confirmed though maybe not transmittable.

http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/tbpc-latb/itir-eng.php The Public Health Agency of Canada published a report based on WHO statistics that gives an instance of 187 per 100,000 or 0.187% for Thailand in 2008, 2009, and 2010. That's higher than the NEWS article from the NATION. Even if the stats from the Nation were at 186 positive cases then that matches the WHO data. Where's the news?

Edited April 23, 2013 by aguy30

[Soi Sauce]

800 bars, of which they found 186 cases. Well, I must have missed that part in Math class then!

Nearly 25%.

Buy a more expensive calculator.

[aguy30]

800 bars, of which they found 186 cases. Well, I must have missed that part in Math class then!

Nearly 25%.

Buy a more expensive calculator.

I think the words "suspected" and "confirmed" have some very important meanings here. There were almost 16,000 people tested.

Edited April 23, 2013 by aguy30

[vijer]

Exaggerated headline, 186 is not 'nearly 200', and the intro is gibberish .... 186 cases in 800 bars - that's about one-quarter of an infection in each bar. Story's not worth reading.

Sorry, I don't get your point (but I am short on coffee today). So you calculate an average of about 'one-quarter infection per bar' and conclude the 'story's not worth reading'? You expected the result to be a whole number otherwise it's meaningless to you? Roughly one infection on average per four bars is not worthy of concern?

TB is a serious disease and easily spread. In the US they will track down every person flying on a plane if they later find that one person had TB. TB is an air borne disease, so just talking to someone or being in the same bar could infect you. They breath out the virus and you breath it in. You don't even have to be close by, which is why planes are a bad place to have a passenger with the disease as the air they breathe out gets circulated throughout the plane. On a 747 some 300 or more people could get infected.

Per Wikipedia - In 2007, there were an estimated 13.7 million chronic active cases globally,^[4] while in 2010, there were an estimated 8.8 million new cases and 1.5 million associated deaths, mostly occurring in developing countries.

[Khun Watchaporn]

All that coughing in your drink as they serve you.

I'd be more concerned with the fingers that have both wiped the poo from their arse and been up their nose in the 5 minutes previous.

Edited April 23, 2013 by Khun Watchaporn

[manarak]

TB is often a sign of HIV infection

please quantify "often"

[RedQualia]

24 confirmed cases out of 15,982 people tested. That's only 0.15% or 1 in 666.

I wonder what the results would have been if the test had been conducted at Central World, MBK or any place in Thailand. Perhaps even higher. A previous exposure from years ago might also be confirmed though maybe not transmittable.

http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/tbpc-latb/itir-eng.php The Public Health Agency of Canada published a report based on WHO statistics that gives an instance of 187 per 100,000 or 0.187% for Thailand in 2008, 2009, and 2010. That's higher than the NEWS article from the NATION. Even if the stats from the Nation were at 186 positive cases then that matches the WHO data. Where's the news?

Indeed. Thanks so much for actually meaningful information.

I was exposed to TB many years ago. I will forever test positive for TB, even though my body walled off the infection in the lungs without problem, as typically occurs. The only way to confirm or deny that I do or do not have an active TB infection is via x-ray. The standard skin test will not work for me. This sequence of events is common in the TB prone areas of the world, which include Thailand, Myanmar, The Philippines, and on and on. And so it's fair to ask - what kind of TB test was administered? I doubt it involved a chest x-ray.

Offhand, I'd say there's a good chance that many readers here could have had the same TB exposure I had. (FWIW, pretty sure my exposure came from an elderly Thai man who was "being kind" to me and keeping the fan pointed in my direction, who turned out to be quite infectious a short time later.)

Additional regional and worldwide stats on TB available here, if interested: http://www.tbfacts.org/tb-statistics.html. Other nearby countries have much higher rates of infection, it seems.

There's also a TB vaccination. Search for it on the internet, if you want. Of course, once you're vaccinated, you, too, will very likely always test positive for TB using the skin test.

[Ijustwannateach]

Let's say an average of 15 workers of all kinds per venue- probably a bit low, but let's be conservative when faced with an alarmist article. Then for 800 venues (which probably is OVER 800, since they are being alarmist, but let's follow the numbers blindly) that's 12,000 workers. Infection rate is 186/12000, or 1.55%, in an environment which is claimed by the same article to be PARTICULARLY RISKY. Which, compared to the overall listed rate for Thailand (which is frankly probably a bit low considering the cultural trend here to 'hide the problem'), that means the rate in those bars was about 8.3 times the general population, assuming the worst case- not exactly odds that send me diving for cover. But as it is PARTICULARLY RISKY, why is this so surprising? I wouldn't be surprised if the REAL trend, if you could get a truly random sample, weren't a few times higher already itself.

I swear I've never seen a genuinely concerned article about epidemiological issues in Thailand which wasn't somehow completely buggered up either by bad original science, bad understanding of science, or the need to make alcohol and/or sex the boogeymonsters.

[webfact]

UPDATE
200 TB cases found in nightspots
Poungchompoo Prasert
The Nation



BANGKOK: -- Over the past year, 186 cases of suspected tuberculosis have been found at more than 800 night venues in Bangkok, of which 24 have been confirmed.

"If we can identify TB at its early stage, there's a good chance of full recovery and of preventing the spread of the disease," Somsak Akksilp, deputy director-general of the Disease Control Department, said yesterday.

Screenings were conducted on 15,982 people with the financial support of the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

Night staff often lack adequate rest and their workplaces are usu

ally crowded and not ventilated, so they have a higher risk of contracting TB.

Authorities have been educating them about this communicable disease.

Symptoms include chronic coughing lasting more than two weeks, low fever, lack of appetite and weight loss.

Porntep Siriwanarangsun, director-general of the department, said there were about 110,000 TB patients in the country.


-- The Nation 2013-04-24

[Ricardo]

Perhaps the government might fund an immunisation-program for school-children, instead of handing-out quite so many free notebook-computers, I recall (hated the 'jab' !) getting my own immunisation while at school, it used to be routine in the UK !

Or would this not be such a good vote-winner ?

[maidu]

highly-resistant TB is prevalent in Russian prisons. Strains are developing there which are resistant to all counter-measures. NYC and other places, same same. There are hired people whose sole job is to go around to street people and make sure they're taking their full complement of antibiotics (many don't). I would be ok with screening of all int'l arrivals at Thai airports. It wouldn't need more than one infected person showing up, with a mega-resistant strain of TB, and then..........

[Dr Robert]

there is some frightening arrogance and misinformation being touted as truth in here. this is not a health forum of experts. if you don't know what you are talking about, have the courtesy to keep quiet and leave it to real medical opinion

[Pimay1]

there is some frightening arrogance and misinformation being touted as truth in here. this is not a health forum of experts. if you don't know what you are talking about, have the courtesy to keep quiet and leave it to real medical opinion

Please have the courtesy to give us a real medical opinion Dr.

[maidu]

there is some frightening arrogance and misinformation being touted as truth in here. this is not a health forum of experts. if you don't know what you are talking about, have the courtesy to keep quiet and leave it to real medical opinion

Please, enlighten us with 'real medical opinion', or at least articulate what being 'touted as truth' is untrue, and why.

[belg]

i guess they mean prostitutes right ? + STD + AIDS

good luck in your daily hunting ...

[itchybum]

All that coughing in your drink as they serve you.

I'd be more concerned with the fingers that have both wiped the poo from their arse and been up their nose in the 5 minutes previous.

As they stir your drink with their finger one last time.