MERS test a must before arrival in Thailand

[webfact]

MERS
MERS test a must before arrival
Pratch Rujivanarom,
Puangchompoo Prasert
The Nation



Authorities are confident disease outbreak contained as no new cases found

BANGKOK: -- PATIENTS TRAVELLING from MERS-affected countries for medical services in Thailand, through agency arrangements, will be required to undergo tests for the virus one week ahead of their entry.

"The screening measure is part of efforts to control the spread of MERS," Dr Supamit Chunsuttiwat of the Disease Control Department said yesterday.

Records show Thailand receives more than a million medical visits from foreigners each year.

Authorities believe the MERS situation in Thailand is under control. There has been just one confirmed case of Middle East respiratory syndrome and this man from Oman is recovering. "Authorities have successfully contained the infection and no new case was found of a MERS situation in Thailand," Public Health Ministry deputy permanent secretary Wachira Pengjuntr said.

He added there were 163 people on the MERS watch list as they had had contact with the Omani patient.

"The number has dropped from 176 a day earlier because 13 of them have left the country," he explained.

Speaking at a press conference yesterday, Wachira said the condition of the sole MERS patient in Thailand was improving. He had no fever and was able to eat by himself; three of his relatives had shown no illness. The test results of three relatives have not confirmed the infection but they were all quarantined in the standard disease-control facility at Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Institute.

Disease Control Department deputy director Opart Karnkawinpong said the department had found 163 people who had had contact with the patient, and the |conditions of all of them had been monitored at their residences for 14 days.

Wachira saida; "We have successfully contained the disease in Thailand and there is only a small chance of wide infection. The situation in South Korea also has been improving as no new cases were identified [yesterday] and the number of people who had contact with the infected had dropped to around 4,000 from 6,000 a day earlier."

Despite the good signs, he said the Public Health Ministry would continue to enforce strict disease-control measures.

"Private hospitals have been instructed to follow the disease-control procedures strictly according to the Communicable Diseases Act 1980. If they find a suspected MERS case, they have to inform the Public Health Ministry immediately," he said.

He also said the ministry had discussed with the Defence Ministry, Foreign Affairs Ministry, Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and other relevant agencies plans to cope with a possible outbreak in the future.

"More disease-control facilities will be allocated, as currently the ministry can quarantine only around 100-200 people who have had close contact with a MERS patient. We are discussing with the Army and private hospitals how to facilitate these people if there is a contagious-disease outbreak in the future," he said.

He said new regulations to oblige people who have had contact with a patient to enter the disease monitoring was also being considered. If the new regulations pass, anyone who avoids disease quarantine will face legal punishment.

Health Service Support Department director-general Dr Boonruang Triruangworawat said hospitals could not deny treatment to walk-in patients even if they were suspected of having MERS.

He said that during the past week, at least two private hospitals were found to have flagged taxis and sent suspected patients on to Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Institute simply because they came from MERS-hit countries.

"We have issued warnings to the staff of these two hospitals because such actions are against the law," he said.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/MERS-test-a-must-before-arrival-30262855.html


-- The Nation 2015-06-23

[webfact]

Private hospitals and clinics warned not to reject patients suspected of contracting MERS virus



BANGKOK: -- All private hospitals and clinics have been told not to turn down patients suspected of being infected with MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) but to receive them for diagnosis and treatment in accordance with set procedure.

Dr Boonruang Trairuangworarat, director-general of Department of Health Support Service, said Monday that private hospitals and clinics are the first stop for visits by patients from the Middle East where there is an outbreak of MERS.

Therefore, it is important that these health care centres should be informed of the standard procedure to ensure uniform practice, he said.

Representatives of about 200 private hospitals and clinics in Bangkok and its peripherals met Monday with officials of the Department of Health Support Service to discuss measures to cope with MERS.

Dr Boonruang said private hospitals or clinics must screen and separate patients from the Middle East who have high fever, cough and sneeze and then inform the Department of Communicable Diseases for further diagnosis.

Although there have been no MERS cases at private hospitals or clinics, he said precaution is necessary and provincial health hospitals had been told to inform private hospitals and clinics in the provinces about the health protocols they have to strictly follow.

Meanwhile at the railway station in Nong Khai, thermoscan devices have been installed to check body temperatures of arriving tourists from Laos as precaution against MERS infection.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/private-hospitals-and-clinics-warned-not-to-reject-patients-suspected-of-contracting-mers-virus


-- Thai PBS 2015-06-23

[ezzra]

PATIENTS TRAVELLING from MERS-affected countries for medical services in Thailand, through agency arrangements, will be required to undergo tests for the virus one week ahead of their entry.

Where do they find these dumb witted 'experts' that demand a test one week before traveling

to Thailand? they didn't ask that when Ebola was killing thousands of people, so why with MERS?

it's stupid and impractical and no other country has suggested it, only this country....

[Bluespunk]

"He said that during the past week, at least two private hospitals were found to have flagged taxis and sent suspected patients on to Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Institute simply because they came from MERS-hit countries."

Nice.

[Deli]

The idea in principal is good. The Ebola point can't really be compared, as people from Ebola areas hardly travel to Thailand ( though also this may of course happen ).

MERS - risk - people ( Middle East, S. Korea ) travel in much higher numbers to Thailand, specially now, when they have their Ramadan holidays.

Get them checked and allow them in only, if they have a clearance. Just hope the docs there take it serious, when signing a paper...

[Guest]

Amazing ... Thailand does something positive, forward thinking, and pro-active....

And the Peanut Gallery goes RADIO SILENT.

Love it!

The Thai bash Department must be in a closed door meeting to try and figure out how to make this wrong.

Good luck mates ... Game. Set. Match

[webfact]

Public health ministry seeks cooperation from private hospitals to screen overseas customers for Mers before admittances



BANGKOK: -- Public Health Ministry yesterday asked private hospitals to screen their overseas customers coming for medical treatment of Mers free before admitting them to hospital.

The request is part of the ministry’s effort to prevent the spread of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (Mers) virus into the country as more foreigners are expected to fly in from risk countries to get medical treatment due to the high quality of services and lower cost when compared with cost in their countries.

The move came in light after a 75-year-old Omani patient coming to have heart treatment at a private hospital, but was also detected to contract Mers.

The ministry’s deputy permanent secretary for health Dr Wachira Pengjuntr said the request for cooperation was sought at a meeting with representatives of private hospitals and clinics yesterday.

He said he has asked that private hospitals must ensure that their foreign customers are required to undergo Mers tests before coming to Thailand.

Those who test positive must not be accepted for treatment in their hospitals, he said.

He also said as foreign visitors are still flying in from risk countries, it was necessary to impose strict measures.

Dr Wachira assured that the country to date has only a confirmed Mers case the Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Institute in Nonthaburi province.

He said the condition of the 75-year-old Omani man has improved and now did not have high temperature.

But he still needed to undergo two more tests, if showed negative will be declared fully recovered from Mers.

Tests on his three relatives who travelled with him also proved they had no infection.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/public-health-ministry-seeks-cooperation-from-private-hospitals-to-screen-overseas-customers-for-mers-before-admittances


-- Thai PBS 2015-06-23

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2 Thai Hospitals Refuse to Admit Suspected MERS Patients: Officials
By Khaosod English


Government officials attend a meeting about efforts to contain a potential MERS outbreak at the Ministry of Public Health in Bangkok, 22 June 2015

BANGKOK — Thai public health officials have reprimanded two private hospitals for refusing to accept patients who were suspected of having Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).

According to Boonrueng Trairuengworarat, director of Thailand’s Department of Health Service Support, staff at the two private hospitals turned away patients from Middle Eastern countries because they were afraid they might be infected with MERS coronavirus. Boonrueng did not identify the two hospitals by name.

"In the past week, there have been cases of staff at the two private hospitals who have refused to admit patients as soon as they realized that they came from risk-countries. They then called taxis to take those patients to [state-owned] Bamrasnaradura Infectious Disease Institute instead," Boonrueng told reporters yesterday.

The director said the practice violates both medical ethics and the laws like the Disease Control Act, which carries a penalty of 6 months in prison and a 10,000 baht fine for rejecting patients with dangerous communicable diseases, Boonrueng said.

Source: http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.php?newsid=1435033519


-- Khaosod English 2015-06-23

[MyFriend You]

The idea in principal is good. The Ebola point can't really be compared, as people from Ebola areas hardly travel to Thailand ( though also this may of course happen ).

MERS - risk - people ( Middle East, S. Korea ) travel in much higher numbers to Thailand, specially now, when they have their Ramadan holidays.

Get them checked and allow them in only, if they have a clearance. Just hope the docs there take it serious, when signing a paper...

Just wondering - I'm travelling thru Seoul to Bangkok this weekend, will we be subject to some kind of test at Swampy??

[Thaddeus]

"In the past week, there have been cases of staff at the two private hospitals who have refused to admit patients as soon as they realized that they came from risk-countries. They then called taxis to take those patients to [state-owned] Bamrasnaradura Infectious Disease Institute instead," Boonrueng told reporters yesterday.

The director said the practice violates both medical ethics and the laws like the Disease Control Act, which carries a penalty of 6 months in prison and a 10,000 baht fine for rejecting patients with dangerous communicable diseases, Boonrueng said.

Source: http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.php?newsid=1435033519

-- Khaosod English 2015-06-23

Quarantine them, or make them someone else's problem and possibly infecting more people on the way.

Choices, choices.

[phoenixdoglover]

"Disease Control Department deputy director Opart Karnkawinpong said the department had found 163 people who had had contact with the patient, and the |conditions of all of them had been monitored at their residences for 14 days"

According to the World Health Organization, the Omani patient entered Thailand on 15 June.

It is now 23 June, which is 8 days later.

Yet somehow people in Thailand have been monitored now for 14 days.

Probably just a problem with "tenses" in the translation. Nothing to worry about.

Edited June 23, 2015 by phoenixdoglover

[oneday]

So who is going to get 6 months in prison and a 10,000 baht fine. It isn't difficult to find out who refused them.

I know, I'm dreaming.

Amazing Thailand with amazingly irresponsible people in the health care industry of all places.

[maidee]

if no names, article is pretty much a waiste of time

[little mary sunshine]

Suspected MERS patients should only be sent to

Hospitals with proper isolation unites, adequately

Trained staff and physicians that are able to

Treat these patients.

[bongoz]

Suspected MERS patients should only be sent to

Hospitals with proper isolation unites, adequately

Trained staff and physicians that are able to

Treat these patients.

OK then so it's perfectly fine to transport them via public taxi to said hospitals?

[korkenzieher]

Ok. So I fly into Thailand on a standard Gulf hub airline - such as Omani. Have I now arrived from an infected country, just because I transited over Oman - if so, 95% of people arriving from the West are also going to be affected. I predict chaos.

[Orac]

Why would someone coming for a prearranged medical procedure be any more of a risk than anyone else from the same country?

[Colabamumbai]

Still waiting for Mr. Ocha's comment on this one.

[Colabamumbai]

Like the boat people just turn them away. Thailand is not a service oriented country unless we are talking about sexworkers.

[little mary sunshine]

Idiot response by Bongoz. Of course it would be completely

Stupid to,transpoort any suspected MERS by public

Transportation. If the Govt is as prepared as the ,claim to

Be, they will have one or two ambulances at Swampy, medical

Personnel trained with standard isolation procedures to transport

To appropriate medical center

[coulson]

Like the boat people just turn them away. Thailand is not a service oriented country unless we are talking about sexworkers.

Great idea. Better to let them roam around with their active airborne virus in an International Terminal, then pack them into a confined space with 300 others for a few hours, that will teach them, and their Countries, to stop sending their sick people on planes and spreading diseases.

[axact]

Idiot response by Bongoz. Of course it would be completely

Stupid to,transpoort any suspected MERS by public

Transportation. If the Govt is as prepared as the ,claim to

Be, they will have one or two ambulances at Swampy, medical

Personnel trained with standard isolation procedures to transport

To appropriate medical center

Why was Bongoz an idiot ? Seems you are the idiot for not bothering to read the original post which says the two un- named hospitals sent refused patients by taxi to the infectious disease hospital.

An apology due ?????

[Jonmarleesco]

'"Authorities have successfully contained the infection ...' Not while there are nine (or more) untraced contacts of the Omani visitor still out there, they haven't.

[Card]

The idea in principal is good. The Ebola point can't really be compared, as people from Ebola areas hardly travel to Thailand ( though also this may of course happen ).

MERS - risk - people ( Middle East, S. Korea ) travel in much higher numbers to Thailand, specially now, when they have their Ramadan holidays.

Get them checked and allow them in only, if they have a clearance. Just hope the docs there take it serious, when signing a paper...

And what about those that just transit via Seoul? I will be doing that next week and next month.