The Thai Ministry of Public Health has adopted four precautionary measures to cope with a respiratory illness which is now spreading among children in northern China.


Several experts in infectious diseases, among them Professor Dr. Yong Poovorawan, Professor Dr. Kulkanya Chokephaibulkit and Associate Professor Dr. Tawee Chotpitayasunondh, have been mobilised by the ministry for consultations and to help in developing measures to cope with the disease.


The first measure is surveillance. Health officials, especially in tourist provinces, have been instructed to monitor pneumonia cases in hospitals, to report cases of unknown cause and to take specimens from the patients for lab tests. If there is an unusual upsurge in pneumonia or respiratory illness cases among patients or medical staff, the officials must conduct an investigation and take specimens from the patients for analysis, so disease control measures can be rolled out.


The second measure is to advise members of the public to wear face masks and to wash their hands frequently.


The third is treatment. Hospitals are to prepare medicines, medical equipment, protective gear for medical staff and sufficient beds in case of a surge in respiratory illness.


The last measure is the tightening up of the screening of people arriving from countries where there is a high incidence of respiratory illness.


The ministry said, however, that there is no need for the public to panic, as it is monitoring the situation in China closely.


Since October, the WHO has been monitoring data from Chinese surveillance systems, which have shown an increase in respiratory illness in northern China.


In mid-November, China’s National Health Commissionreported a nationwide increase in the incidence of respiratory diseases, predominantly affecting children. Chinese authorities attributed this increase to the lifting of COVID-19restrictions and the arrival of the cold season, as well as known pathogens, such as influenza, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-Cov-2).


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