Malaria Outbreak

[JohnBA]

My Thai friends family now have 3 members with malaria in the last week. They live in Nakhon Si Thammarat and he tells me that there are thousands of cases because of infrastructure collapse after the flooding. But I have heard nothing on the news and there is no hightened health advice on government or travel websites that I can find.
So is this true - does anybody know

[Thungsongsausage]

I have many friends there and i haven't heard anything about it.

[superman]

does anybody know

Only your friends family apparently. Malaria is prevalent everywhere even if the infrastructure hasn't collapsed. The rains have now started so Dengue Fever will be on the rise. Prevention is the best way to combat mosquito's. Plenty of repellent.

[nidhogg]

Malaria is prevalent everywhere .

Really? Where on earth do you get that idea?

There is fairly little Malaria in Thailand - except along the real border areas - and even then, you need a fair bit of real rural exposure to stand a chance of getting it....

[nidhogg]

Malaria is prevalent everywhere .

Really? Where on earth do you get that idea?

There is fairly little Malaria in Thailand - except along the real border areas - and even then, you need a fair bit of real rural exposure to stand a chance of getting it....

Had a quick look around, and there is definately some malaria in thailand - as noted, predominantly in border areas - there were 30,000 cases in 2009 (more than I thought, I do have to admit).

Anyway, for those interested, this link leads to the official WHO report on malaria for Thailand - the map at the top is pretty interesting:

http://www.who.int/malaria/publicati...ile_tha_en.pdf

[brettandlek]

Reckon this would be the case in Korat too?
We are going in October with what will be a two month old baby.
The doctor said we dont have to worry about Hep A and B and the other one i had i think was Typhoid for memory? As baby will be just breast feeding. But Malaria they said at the time wasnt a problem for Korat, maybe need to reinvestigate. Or Dengue Fever :-(

[nidhogg]

^ with all the mosquito borne nasties - prevenion is your best option - anti mossie repellents, cover arms legs etc, etc

[brettandlek]

Hmm interesting.
We took Veet last time but i think a bit much for a babies skin, will have to do some research.

[superman]

^ Johnson's baby anti-mosquito oil which is for 6 months and upwards. We couldn't find any suitable before that age.

[superman]

Malaria is prevalent everywhere .

Really? Where on earth do you get that idea?

There is fairly little Malaria in Thailand - except along the real border areas - and even then, you need a fair bit of real rural exposure to stand a chance of getting it....

You are right Nidhogg. I used the wrong words. Disregard my post. Thanks

[JohnBA]

I really don't know. 2 of the family have been moved to BKK hospitals and it is still being called malaria. The other can't afford it and the hospital in Nakhon was badly damaged - and only very small to start with - so she is at home. But I get more confused because the doctor they all saw in Nakhon told them malaria and Dengue fever were the same.

[superman]

2 of the family have been moved to BKK hospitals and it is still being called malaria. The other can't afford it

Why do they have to pay ? Thais don't pay for treatment in government hospitals when sick.

[nidhogg]

. But I get more confused because the doctor they all saw in Nakhon told them malaria and Dengue fever were the same.

Very, very different diseases. There may be a translation problem some where.

[withnallstoke]

There may be a translation problem some where

Or dodgy paid for qualifications.
Q. How can you tell if a Thai doctors degrees are fake?
A. Because they have them.

[nidhogg]

There may be a translation problem some where

Or dodgy paid for qualifications.
Q. How can you tell if a Thai doctors degrees are fake?
A. Because they have them.

While I agree there is a lamantably low standard for the run of the mill medical doctors, I am not sure there is that much of a market in selling dodgy Medical degrees. There are not that many places that have basic medical degree courses, and they tend to be the "better" unis - Chula, mahidol etc.

However, even given the low standard, if there is one thing that thai docs tend to be pretty up on - its infectious diseases - simply because there is so much of it - and I doubt even a third year medical student would confuse dengue with malaria...

[brettandlek]

Hmm interesting.
We took Veet last time but i think a bit much for a babies skin, will have to do some research.

I told the missus about this last night and in typical style she said "oh dunsa matter" I told her to look at the friggin news.
I told her that she is like any other Thai and has no vlaue on human life and she said she will get a netting for him, we will just see.

[trangman]

Certainly Dengue fever is on the rise at this time of year, I know this because I just got out of the local hospital with it, after spending 7 of the worse days of my life in there.
The mosquito that carries Dengue bites during the day, believe me you don't want Dengue so if your near wooded areas or standing water wear your repellent.
The local hospital had about 30 cases when I was there.

[blue]

Tell us more, what happened during the 7 days trangman ?

[Mid]

BANGKOK, Apr 25, 2011 (IPS) - A raging insurgency in Thailand’s southernmost provinces has become a breeding ground for another potential killer – the malaria-carrying Anopheles mosquito – that is threatening to wipe out the gains Thailand has achieved in fighting the disease.

https://teakdoor.com/thailand-and-asi...nsurgency.html (Southern Violence : Malaria Spreads Amidst Insurgency in South)

[Mid]

16/12/09


Scientists in Thailand are warning of a new drug-resistant strain of the mosquito-borne disease Malaria.

The strain has been found in patients living near the Thai-Cambodian border.

https://teakdoor.com/thailand-and-asi...ia-strain.html

[JohnBA]

An update.
The hospital in Nakhon told the family to get the 12 year old girl to BKK - they haven't the drugs in Nakhon. Now she is in a private hospital in BKK and it is confirmed as malaria but she us starting to get better. I chatted with her on MSN today and she tells me that many of her schoolfriends are sick also. There is definitley something going on here.
I was going out there next month but I will put that on hold now.

[JohnBA]

A further update.

The 40yr old mother of the girl now has malaria. She has not left BKK for 7 months so must have caught it there.
There is no free treatment for locals - even the free malaria clinics in the coutryside now charge. There is no clinic in BKK because the government says there is no malaria in BKK. They wouldn't even test her for malaria until she lied and said she had been up-country somewhere
The hospital charges 4,000 per night plus medication and the malaria drugs alone are 15,000 per week.
This woman earned 10,000 per month at her PA job - but that went after last year's floods destroyed the business. How can such people survive?
Once I was gung-ho to move there - now I won't come anywhere near the place. I moved to North Cyprus - cheap houses, crime-free and about 15 days rain per year, visas at the entry gate and the only unwelcome nationalities are Nigerian and Albanian.

[Seekingasylum]

As far as I am aware, the treatment for malaria is usually the prescription of the drug used as a malarial prophylactic. This is freely available as indeed is the usual i/v introduction of nutrients etc necessary to sustain vital signs as the body deals with the attack.
This isn't expensive nor is it limted.

[hazz]

the costs for a room are in the ball park for what private hospitals charge here. but to be honest given the lasses finacial situation and its being a simple well known desease. I would suggest that she considers moving to a university hospital within bangkok, they are quite good and very cheap if you are prepared to be in a ward. chula seems quite good, and Ive had personal and family experiance of the Mahidol University's hospitals on rama 6 and found them to be fine and well equipped, but basic buildings.

I have to say Ive not heard of people catching malaria in bangkok, i heard about a chap getting Japanese encephelitus out on the outscurts... but thats all

[Bower]

Please remember that humans carry this disease ! If the mosquito bites an infected human, it picks up the parasite and passes it onto its next meal, could be you or any member of your family,classmates or drinking companion.
If you suspect a member of your social circle has malaria, keep them under a mosquito net until fully clear.

I don't mean to preach to the converted,hope this post doesn't come across this way.