British woman in Hua Hin in quarantine for MERS

[webfact]

Dream trip turns into a nightmare for woman, 30, locked in quarantine in Thailand
by Henry Holloway , Reporter

HUA HIN: -- A WOMAN has been locked in quarantine on a dream trip to Thailand after an outbreak of a deadly virus.

Kerry Sue Newman, a jeweller from Brighton, travelled to South East Asia earlier this month but is now being kept in a solitary hospital room in the seaside district of Hua Hin for two weeks.

The 30-year-old was staying at Por Promin Muay Thai camp and fulfilling a dream to spend six months living in Thailand when she was picked up by Thai authorities.

They said they had to take her into quarantine and has been told she is not allowed to leave.

Thailand is currently on high alert as cases of the potentially fatal Middle East respiratory syndrome (Mers) have been reported in neighbouring countries.

An outbreak in the region has killed a total of 27 people and is mainly focused in South Korea with 175 confirmed cases.

A total of 2,805 people placed in isolation and more than 2,000 schools have been closed.

Thailand had its first confirmed case of Mers last week in a 75-year-old man from Oman who had travelled to Bangkok for treatment for a heart condition.

Full story: http://m.theargus.co.uk/news/13349749.Brighton_woman_in_Thai_quarantine_unit_over_potentially_fatal_virus_outbreak/

-- The Argus 2015-06-25

[ezzra]

didn't I read several days ago that a gaggle of Thai officials declared MERS gone and finished

with? I distinctly remembers their boasting time and time again " no more MERS in Thailand "

so what now? Oooops ?

[Bob12345]

This articles raises some questions, for example how she could have contracted the virus. Did she just return from the Middle East or did she come in contact with someone who has the virus on the plane, on a boat, orat the muay thai camp she was staying? And how did the authorities track her down?

Quite important questions if you ask me to avoid a panic...

[trianglechoke]

im sneezy today!

[clockman]

More likely to killed, crossing the road!

[wrinklynomad]

The full article says she was on the same plane and sitting near the Omani diagnosed with MERS - one of the many being quarantined pending test results.

[NoBrainer]

I read yesterday that they were still looking for 11 other people that were in close contact with the Omani.

I suppose she may have been one of the persons that they are looking for.

This is a good sign that the authorities are actually tracking these people down.

[little mary sunshine]

Better safe than sorry...For everyone

elsein Thailand...she can always

Take another vacation.

[Chicken George]

Lucky she was found. Better for her just in case. 10 days and she will be out with a story to tell.

[djlest]

why did they track her down? did she go to the Dr with a cold or they just decided to track her down because????

[MockingJay]

The best about this one is that the o.p. is so full of important details...

[kiwikeith]

Lucky she was found. Better for her just in case. 10 days and she will be out with a story to tell.

Yes lucky and some good work, I live close to the camp, but if she was staying there , then why didn't they quarantine all others in contact with her?

[Chicken George]

Lucky she was found. Better for her just in case. 10 days and she will be out with a story to tell.

Yes lucky and some good work, I live close to the camp, but if she was staying there , then why didn't they quarantine all others in contact with her?

Maybe because she is not ill. But she was in contact with an ill person. It does not spread that easily. If they put everyone in quarantine she has come in contact with then there would be more in than out. :-))

[dick turpin]

Poor girl, two weeks in a locked room watching

Thai TV......enough to send anyoe delirious

[diehard60]

I thought Thai government had this all under control. Gee maybe I need to learn how to read better. Or maybe they need to better reporting.

[coulson]

The best about this one is that the o.p. is so full of important details...

Yes, its a bit loose, however the link does have all the info and explains she was tracked down for being 2 rows behind the Omani on the flight from Muscat.

[Cuchulainn]

didn't I read several days ago that a gaggle of Thai officials declared MERS gone and finished

with? I distinctly remembers their boasting time and time again " no more MERS in Thailand "

so what now? Oooops ?

Oh! and Ebola too!!

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Before posting gripes, some of you folks ought to actually READ the full article that's the subject of this thread.

It clearly explains, as others have posted above so I won't repeat it again, why she was put into quarantine.

Not a very fun detour for her Thailand vacation, but apparently it's the normal thing to do from a public health perspective with MERS.

Hopefully the Thai hospital folks there in HH are at least trying to make her quarantine reasonably comfortable.

[richard_smith237]

No control measures at the airports...

In the past (SARS) IR cameras have been utilised to check the temperatures of arriving passengers... I've not seen any such measures.

[AlQaholic]

"Dr. Richard Pebody of Public Health England said human to human transmission of Mers is rare.

He said: “Although any transmission risk is very small, as a precaution, we contact UK passengers on a plane who are in the vicinity of a case to follow-up, provide information and reassurance.”"

Sooo....those cases in S. Korea all was from camels and bats? Not transmission from Human to Human?? What it is in that statement that seems to contradict reality?

[Jimlove]

I thought Thai government had this all under control. Gee maybe I need to learn how to read better. Or maybe they need to better reporting.

Agree ... but I guess they are not more in control of MERS than they are of Beach sunbeds, Jet ski, gang rapists, KT murderers, dive accidents etc. etc. etc. etc. which basically mean that they are in control of ... Nothing !!!

Next MERS case will follow in a few days if anyone fancy a bet ...

[Lopchan]

I thought Thai government had this all under control. Gee maybe I need to learn how to read better. Or maybe they need to better reporting.

Well, they do don't they. They tracked her down and quarantined her. Possibly a medical team is assessing the risk she has posed to those SHE cam into contact with. Efforts to locate and quarantine those in contact with the original host of the illness are CONTROL of the disease.

So despite your best effort at Thai / General / Government bashing, I for one believe the Thai govt. is doing its best. If you think otherwise, perhaps you could enlighten us with your utopian county's methods of controlling outbreaks or, better yet, your own vastly experienced ideas on the subject.

[kiwikeith]

didn't I read several days ago that a gaggle of Thai officials declared MERS gone and finished

with? I distinctly remembers their boasting time and time again " no more MERS in Thailand "

so what now? Oooops ?

Oh! and Ebola too!!

No they found a cure for that, somewhere , sometime,someplace----------

[BuaBS]

I hope she has aircon and internet or boredom and the heat could kill her. As for the camera : put something over it.

But who's paying for this quarantine ?

[sitti]

I thought Thai government had this all under control. Gee maybe I need to learn how to read better. Or maybe they need to better reporting.

Can you read or understand Thai? If not, your sources of information will always be limited and often lack accuracy due to translation and interpretation error.

[Jai Dee]

An offensive post has been removed from this thread.

[fareastguy]

Better safe than sorry...For everyone

elsein Thailand...she can always

Take another vacation.

The post say's she's here for 6 months vacation... so the standard 15 days in isolation won't screw everything up !

[Mystery]

Hello... My name's Miriam, and I'm the wife of the owner of Por Promin Muay Thai Camp, where Kerry was taken from, so I thought I'd add a little more information to this post, although I do wish people would thoroughly read the link to the article in the Argus Newspaper, as most of your questions can be answered there.

As the article states, Kerry was on the same plane as a man from Oman (it was a stop-over flight from England, so he was on the second plane that she was on from England) she was sitting three rows behind him. He was taken to hospital with what was thought to be chest or heart problems and difficulty breathing, after four days and four tests they confirmed he had MERS. His two sons who were sat next time him were immediately quarantined and tested and have come back with negative test results so far and are in quarantine until July 2.

The day after they confirmed he had MERS they came to get Kerry from Por Promin Muay Thai Camp. Three people arrived, a man from the Ministry of Health in Bangkok, a social worker and a health worker. They immediately asked if Kerry had displayed any symptoms to which we replied no. They told us that Kerry was on the same plane and would have to be taken into quarantine as a safety measure for 14 days from the date that she was potentially exposed to the virus.

I'm presuming they found her via her TM7 card that every foreigner who enters Thailand has to fill in and give the address at which they will be staying whilst in Thailand.

I understand they are still trying to locate about 8 foreigners - read that in an article yesterday - Bangkok post I think - sorry I can't provide a link.

They have explained that the chances of her actually having the virus are very slim and we do not need to take any precautions at the gym ONLY if she develops symptoms like 'fever' or 'respirartory problems' would they consider us at risk.

They explained that they were contacting all the people who were in the same economy compartment - they had to be under quarantine - the ones in the busines lounge and pilot etc just need to report their symptoms daily as they were even less at risk.

They are following WHO guidelines in order to prevent a break-out here.

The man from Oman is recovering well and was immediately moved from the original hospital he was in.

There is nothing dangerous about going to the hospital in which she is in (although it is not Bangkok Hospital) - the girl is under quarantine in a room by herself with no visitors allowed.

From what I understand it is not as easily transmissable as Ebola which spread like wildfire obviously.

As always the best thing is to read and do your own research before panicking!

At Por Promin Muay Thai Camp we're not panicking, we feel the Thai authorities have reacted quickly and efficiently and isolated people at risk, Kerry only has a few more days left at the hospital and then she'll be able to leave. The closer we get to the end of the 14 days it means she didn't contract the virus from him and we also have nothing to worry about.

Oh and someone was asking who's paying for this... not Kerry that's for sure - the Thai Government is and they are taking care of her very well under the circumstances.

Here's a great and informative article about MERS that should put you all somewhat at ease - at the end of the day it's a new virus so there are still things they don't know, but historically it doesn't seem to transmit human to human very well.

http://www.vox.com/2015/6/5/8735037/what-is-mers-virus

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Thanks for the good, thoughtful post...

In all likelihood, she and everyone else who was around her will be fine.

As you noted, the Thai health officials are just following the standard protocol for potential MERS exposure.

[partington]

"Dr. Richard Pebody of Public Health England said human to human transmission of Mers is rare.

He said: “Although any transmission risk is very small, as a precaution, we contact UK passengers on a plane who are in the vicinity of a case to follow-up, provide information and reassurance.”"

Sooo....those cases in S. Korea all was from camels and bats? Not transmission from Human to Human?? What it is in that statement that seems to contradict reality?

The cases in South Korea were transmitted in hospitals, mostly to family members who were caring for the patient. In South Korea families are admitted to wards, and can stay with the patient full time in very close contact, often preparing and sharing food, and sleeping in the same rooms.

This is how transmission mostly occurred, and MERS transmission is difficult, unless similar close physical contact over a sustained period has happened. Respiratory viruses are often more commonly transmitted by touch rather than by being airborne. The risk from sitting many rows behind someone with the disease in a plane is very small indeed.

So there is no inconsistency with the reports that human to human transmission of MERS is relatively difficult.

What is always true is that newspapers and websites like to increase clickbait advertising revenue by exaggerating the epidemic dangers of every disease, everywhere.