Impact of Swine Flu in Thailand

Lab results also confirmed three students in the same group, two female and one male, who were suffering from flu-like symptoms and who were put in isolation at the Bamrasnaradura Institute were also negative.

Doctors would monitor symptoms of all 14 returnees again today before deciding whether they should be discharged from the hospital, Mr Manit said.

He said hard copy and online versions of handbooks giving prevention guidelines for individuals would also be published to inform the public about the new strain of flu virus.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recently renamed swine flu as influenza A (H1N1).

The heads of the United Nations and WHO say there are no imminent plans to raise the pandemic level of swine flu to its highest alert. Level 6 - the highest - would mean a global outbreak is under way. WHO raised the level to 5 last week.

In New York, UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon yesterday said WHO "has no plan to raise the alert level to 6 at this moment".

WHO chief Margaret Chan told the UN General Assembly by video link from Geneva that "we are not there yet".

Ms Chan said there were now 1,003 confirmed cases in 20 countries, and there was "no indication" the situation was similar to the Spanish flu in 1918.

According to WHO, there have been 25 confirmed fatalities from the virus in Mexico and one in the US.

Public Health Minister Witthaya Kaewparadai yesterday expressed concern over the lack of preparedness against the flu's transmission among immigration police at Suvarnabhumi airport, saying it could hamper control of the virus from spreading into Thailand. Speaking during a meeting on swine flu preparedness and treatment with doctors, Mr Witthaya said he was disappointed by the weak surveillance at the airport, particularly among immigration authorities.

"They should know how to protect themselves from any virus transmission," he said. "We warned them earlier to be more careful. But prevention measures are still lacking."
Mr Witthaya said he witnessed weak surveillance on Sunday night.

He said immigration officials asked travelers to take off their masks to check their identities but the officials themselves did not wear any protective gear.

Pol Maj Gen Pongdej Chaiprawat, immigration police chief at the airport, said health officials were in charge of checking symptoms of passengers using thermal scanners. Those who passed the scanner test would then come to see immigration police, he said.