TYPE A(H1N1) - All flu patients must seek attention within two days

The Public Health Ministry yesterday advised people, even people with no underlying conditions, to seek medical help within two days of developing flu-like symptoms.

Meanwhile, a 57-year-old physician at Chiang Mai University's Faculty of Medicine succumbed to the flu, becoming the first victim in the healthcare industry, provincial health chief Dr Wattana Kanjanakamonsaid.
Wattana suspected that the unnamed doctor might have caught the infection from a patient.
Meanwhile, the ministry reported that a total of 24 people with no underlying diseases had died of the type-A (H1N1) influenza so far. The other 41 fatalities involved patients with chronic health problems. As of yesterday, the number of confirmed flu cases were 8,877.
Most of the deaths were caused by patients waiting six or more days before seeking medical attention, which meant that they did not respond well to the antiviral oselatmivir, said Dr Paijit Warachit, the health ministry's deputy permanent secretary.
People with no chronic diseases should wait no more than two days before seeking medical treatment, while those with chronic disease should head to the nearest hospital as soon as they develop flu-like symptoms, he warned.
Patients with severe flu symptoms need to consume oseltamivir within 48 to 72 hours after being infected in order to cut down the chances of developing severe pneumonia, which can be fatal, he said.
Ramathibodhi Hospital's Dr Sayomporn Sirinavin said the antiviral showed best results if taken within 48 hours. However, he said, it was not necessary to dispense the antiviral to patients with mild symptoms because they could develop a resistance to the drug.
Next month, the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO) will start producing 20 million tablets of the antiviral to help fight the outbreak, and decided last week to increase its stock of oseltamivir from 15 million to 55 million doses.
GPO director Dr Vithit Attavijjakul said it would take no more than 24 hours to deliver the drug in urban areas and 48 hours for rural areas. GPO is also reserving 50,000 oseltamivir tablets for its regional offices in Chiang Mai, Udon Thani and Hat Yai to distribute to 18 provinces.
GPO has also reserved 50,000 courses of the zanamivir, imported from Australia, for patients resistant to oseltamivir. The World Health Organisation reported that type-A (H1N1) cases resistant to oseltamivir have been found in Canada, Denmark, Japan and Hong Kong. So far, nobody has shown resistance to the antiviral in Thailand.

Source: The Nation