MERS: Thai Ministry quarantines more than 10 people having close contacts with Omani patient

[webfact]

Ministry quarantines more than 10 people having close contacts with Omani patient



BANGKOK: -- The Public Health Ministry has quarantined more than 10 people who have close contact with the Mers-infected Omani patient on the same flight to Bangkok while advising others to take leave and stay at homes and report their conditions daily to public health officials.

The ministry’s acting permanent secretary Dr Surachet Satitniramai disclosed Friday that health have screened more than 10 people who have close contacts with the Omani patient for close isolated monitoring at various hospitals.

He said although these people have not yet symptom of sickness but they were regarded having close contacts with the patient.

For the rest of the over 50 passengers and others, health officials have advised them to take leave and stay homes.

They were required to report their conditions to health officials on a daily basis and doctors will visit some of them daily, he said.

He assured that so far the 59 persons travelling on the same flight have not shown any unusual conditions.

He said doctors have removed breathing aids as now he could breath by himself, and condition remained stable.

He said the private hospital which first received the Omani patient has separated him at restricted room after detecting his unusual sickness.

The patient and his family members checked in at the hospital immediately after arriving at Suvarnabhumi airport and taking a taxi to the hospital, he said, and voiced little chance of spreading the disease.

He said the ministry would conduct in depth investigation into the record of the Omani patient again today after tracing his record back to June 17 and could obtain identities of those having close contacts with him.

The 75-year-old Omani man arrived in Thailand early this week has been tested positive for the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome also known as MERS, becoming the first confirmed case in Thailand.

At a press conference yesterday to confirm the first Mers case in Thailand, Public Health Minister Rajata Rajatanavin confirm the laboratory test results of the 75-year-old Omani man, saying that the man has now been put in isolation and is under care of doctors at the Bamrasnaradura Infectious Disease Institute in Bangkok suburban province of Nonthaburi.

Rajata said the patient’s health condition is stable and has shown no sign of deterioration. He said three other members of his family have also been put under isolation at the Institute.

According to the public health minister, the man flew to Thailand along with the three family members to receive medical treatment for his heart disease at a private hospital on June 15.

Doctors at the hospital found him to have respiratory illnesses such as fever, coughing and shortness of breath similar to MERS so they alerted the Public Health Ministry.

The public health minister assured the public of the country’s disease control system and told them not to panic.

Rajata said the ministry was also closely monitoring health conditions of 59 people who have had close contact with the patient including the three members of his family, four hotel staffs, 20 officials at the private hospital, and 32 passengers who were on the same flight with him when he flew into Thailand.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/ministry-quarantines-more-than-10-people-having-close-contacts-with-omani-patient

-- Thai PBS 2015-06-19

[JOC]

Since Mr P likes to get involved in everything, is a visit to the isolation ward too much to hope for ??....

[canopus1969]

Don't panic Mr Jones

[NoBrainer]

I see the Taxi Driver & The Immigration officer are not on that list.

This could very easily get out of control. They should also educate the public on how the desease is transmitted and what should be done to avoid infection.

The averafe Thai does not have a clue about this desease.

Edited June 19, 2015 by NoBrainer

[fareastguy]

Just listened to the news on TV...
The government has refused to say which hospital is currently being used to treat the infected patient or say which hospital is being used to examine/test people that have been in close contact with him

They have also refused to say which airline/flight was used on the inbound flight of the infected patient.

The reasoning behind the non-disclosure is that they are "in full control of the situation" and do not wish to spread panic among the general public or bring un-due attention to the hospital/s involved !!

Personally speaking I would like to know if I was on the same flight as the infected person so I could go to a nominated hospital & get myself tested as soon as possible (to declare myself clear or to stop further infection)

As for knowing which hospital he is in I would also like to know so that I could make a personal choice as to whether I would use that hospital at this moment in time or go somewhere else for other un-related treatment..

South Korea paid the penalty for failing to alert the public in the early stages of the first detection

I just hope Thailand doesn't go down the same path, saying it's in the public's interests not to know while all the time actually trying to keep domestic/tourist movements normal !!

[cmiuc]

Is this in Bangkok or other area of Thailand? or secret location so as to not cause a mass exodus?

[alocacoc]

This is the End.

[diehard60]

I new there would be, but why did it take so long to do this????????

[JAS21]

Since Mr P likes to get involved in everything, is a visit to the isolation ward too much to hope for ??....

Nearly 4000 posts in 10 months ... maybe you could improve the quality even if it means cutting down the numbers just a little ..........

[JAS21]

Just listened to the news on TV...

The government has refused to say which hospital is currently being used to treat the infected patient or say which hospital is being used to examine/test people that have been in close contact with him

They have also refused to say which airline/flight was used on the inbound flight of the infected patient.

The reasoning behind the non-disclosure is that they are "in full control of the situation" and do not wish to spread panic among the general public or bring un-due attention to the hospital/s involved !!

Personally speaking I would like to know if I was on the same flight as the infected person so I could go to a nominated hospital & get myself tested as soon as possible (to declare myself clear or to stop further infection)

As for knowing which hospital he is in I would also like to know so that I could make a personal choice as to whether I would use that hospital at this moment in time or go somewhere else for other un-related treatment..

South Korea paid the penalty for failing to alert the public in the early stages of the first detection

I just hope Thailand doesn't go down the same path, saying it's in the public's interests not to know while all the time actually trying to keep domestic/tourist movements normal !!

The Bangkok Post (todays front page) has some info .. says flight was OMAN WY0815 .... this could be bad new for Thailand.

[NoBrainer]

Just listened to the news on TV...

The government has refused to say which hospital is currently being used to treat the infected patient or say which hospital is being used to examine/test people that have been in close contact with him

They have also refused to say which airline/flight was used on the inbound flight of the infected patient.

The reasoning behind the non-disclosure is that they are "in full control of the situation" and do not wish to spread panic among the general public or bring un-due attention to the hospital/s involved !!

Personally speaking I would like to know if I was on the same flight as the infected person so I could go to a nominated hospital & get myself tested as soon as possible (to declare myself clear or to stop further infection)

As for knowing which hospital he is in I would also like to know so that I could make a personal choice as to whether I would use that hospital at this moment in time or go somewhere else for other un-related treatment..

South Korea paid the penalty for failing to alert the public in the early stages of the first detection

I just hope Thailand doesn't go down the same path, saying it's in the public's interests not to know while all the time actually trying to keep domestic/tourist movements normal !!

There have been news reports of which hospital he is now being treated in,and it is in Nonthaburi, and another newspaper reported that he took a taxi from the airport directly to his hotel on Sukhumvit Soi 3 so it does not take much detective work to figure out which is the closest hospital to Sukhumvit Soi 3.

Hope that helps to make you feel better.

I am surprised that this thread is not going off the Richter Scale with replies.

Edited June 19, 2015 by NoBrainer

[Bellacissa]

"The patient and his family members checked in at the hospital immediately after arriving at Suvarnabhumi airport and taking a taxi to the hospital, he said, and voiced little chance of spreading the disease."

If he and his family went straight from the airport to the hospital via taxi, why would 4 hotel staff be closely monitored? It doesn't sound like they ever even went to a hotel.

I can see this getting out of hand quickly, but hopefully they really do have it contained and are on top of everything. I don't agree with withholding the information about the hospital and the flight, though. People can only be proactive if they know that they need to be proactive.

[ElisabethA]

How on earth did he get out of Oman? It's only a 5 hour flight, he wouldn't have just got the virus. The referring Doctor in Muscat needs talking to, and outward screening at GCC airports, otherwise with the amount of medical tourists coming in from the GCC this will keep happening.

[Farma]

How on earth did he get out of Oman? It's only a 5 hour flight, he wouldn't have just got the virus. The referring Doctor in Muscat needs talking to, and outward screening at GCC airports, otherwise with the amount of medical tourists coming in from the GCC this will keep happening.

There is an incubation period of up to 14 days. The symptoms may not have appeared until after his arrival.

For information since Saudi Arabia identified the first patient in 2012, as of tuesday Saudi arabia reported a total 1,034 cases with 457 deaths. 3 of those deaths were last tuesday. There are currently 9 patients being treated in Saudi.

[tigermonkey]

Al Jazeera is now stating that one person has died from MERS in thailand .

[JOC]

Since Mr P likes to get involved in everything, is a visit to the isolation ward too much to hope for ??....

Nearly 4000 posts in 10 months ... maybe you could improve the quality even if it means cutting down the numbers just a little ..........

Since when is my post count any of your business??

If you don't like my posts, ignore them, it is really very simple....................

[tigermonkey]

Al Jazeera is now stating that one person has died from MERS in thailand .

Now finally at 17:30 Al Jazeera have changed their headline - now he is not dead .

[NoBrainer]

Al Jazeera is now stating that one person has died from MERS in thailand .

Now finally at 17:30 Al Jazeera have changed their headline - now he is not dead .

I am sure he will be quite pleased about that news. Imagine lying in bed in the hospital watching Al Jazeera news, only to find out your dead already !!!

[Bellacissa]

Al Jazeera is now stating that one person has died from MERS in thailand .

Now finally at 17:30 Al Jazeera have changed their headline - now he is not dead .

I am sure he will be quite pleased about that news. Imagine lying in bed in the hospital watching Al Jazeera news, only to find out your dead already !!!

There's a joke about the zombie apocalypse in there somewhere.

I'm very happy that the man is indeed alive. Let's hope he stays that way and recovers quickly.

[Prbkk]

It's hard to imagine that Thailand would succeed with the voluntary isolation of 'at risk' individuals seen in Korea. Let's hope that Thailand is lucky and the spread is contained somehow. This has been on the cards for a couple of years and was always a greater threat than Ebola ...despite the hysterical frenzy about it.

MERS was not a 'sexy' topic for the press but it's outcomes are almost as grim as Ebola and the likelihood of it going untracked because of the longish incubation period is greater

[JAG]

Al Jazeera is now stating that one person has died from MERS in thailand .

Now finally at 17:30 Al Jazeera have changed their headline - now he is not dead .

Blimey, it took Christianity three days, Al Jazeera cracked it in just over an hour!

[Jimlove]

Al Jazeera is now stating that one person has died from MERS in thailand .

Now finally at 17:30 Al Jazeera have changed their headline - now he is not dead .

Even if he should die it will probably be covered up a long long time - Wonder when TAT has some spin on this story ...

[Prbkk]

Al Jazeera is now stating that one person has died from MERS in thailand .

Now finally at 17:30 Al Jazeera have changed their headline - now he is not dead .

Even if he should die it will probably be covered up a long long time - Wonder when TAT has some spin on this story ...

They will have to be quick....CNN running 2 Thai stories prominently....MERS and aviation red flag

[coulson]

How on earth did he get out of Oman? It's only a 5 hour flight, he wouldn't have just got the virus. The referring Doctor in Muscat needs talking to, and outward screening at GCC airports, otherwise with the amount of medical tourists coming in from the GCC this will keep happening.

The referral/ trip could have been, as with many of these medical holidays, planned well in advance of exposure.

I'm also not sure what you mean about outward screening, never seen it in the Gulf. Oman has one reported death since 2012, and is the least suspicious origin from any screening point of view, in the gulf anyway. Far more emphasis should be placed on screening inward passengers from UAE, a major hub linked with BKK, directly on embarkment for example, rather than just before arrivals immigration.

[ElisabethA]

I have Omani residence and the constant denial in GCC countries apart from KSA is unbelievable. It is called Middle East Respiratory Syndrome for a reason, surely if the government's know where it is originating from, they should screen people leaving so not to spread it. Even if it's a 14 day incubation period you will know before a 5 hour flight if you feel unwell enough to be diagnosed with Mers when you land!

[Jonmarleesco]

'Doctors at the hospital found him to have respiratory illnesses such as fever, coughing and shortness of breath similar to MERS ...' And Suvarnabhumi's supposed MERS checks? Or did someone forget?