Doctors detected the symptoms and admitted him to the paediatric intensive care unit at Vachira Phuket Hospital.

“He is in stable condition but we will need to closely monitor his symptoms,” Dr Jiradej Panyasuttikij from the hospital said yesterday.

Jessadakorn Chaiyo went missing on February 3 prompting his mother Saowalak Chaiyo to make desperate pleas for help in locating her son.

After searches lasting a few days, Jessadakorn’s grandfather, the family dog and some rescue workers finally located him near a stream several kilometres from his home on Tuesday. The boy had many wounds on his limbs but they were not serious, when compared with the blood infection, the doctor said.

Jiradej said if Jessadakorn’s physical health improved, the hospital would arrange for him to meet a paediatric psychiatrist too. Saowalak yesterday declined to give interviews, saying she had to go to a local temple to pray for her son’s recovery. Police plan to investigate this case to determine whether the boy himself got lost in the nearby forest or someone else was responsible for his days-long disappearance from his home.