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https://www.nationthailand.com/life/40016092

A leading Thai virologist has urged people in at-risk groups to get a fourth dose of Covid-19 vaccine now if they received their third dose more than four months ago.

Dr Yong Poovorawan explained in a Facebook post that immunity from the first three doses drops significantly after a few months, leaving recipients vulnerable to infection again.

The number of new Covid-19 cases in Thailand has dropped below 5,000 per day but experts warn this downward trend could reverse as the effects of vaccination wear off.

The Public Health Ministry last week revealed results of its study on the effects of vaccination with two, three or four doses.

It found that two vaccine doses had the least efficacy against Omicron infection, but are 75 per cent effective in preventing severe symptoms which require ventilators.

Three jabs are 15 per cent effective against Omicron infection, but 93 per cent effective in preventing symptoms that require ventilators.

Four jabs are 76 per cent effective in preventing Omicron infection, but 99 per cent effective in preventing symptoms that require ventilators.

Yong confirmed that a fourth dose will boost immunity and protect people in at-risk groups against serious illness if they do get infected. At-risk groups include seniors aged over 60, front-line medical staff, and people with underlying conditions.

Thailand has enough vaccine doses available to protect this group of people, he added, urging them to get a fourth dose if it had been at least four months since their last vaccination.

Meanwhile, he advised healthy young people who have received three doses to wait for an update on the situation before getting a fourth shot.

Published : May 30, 2022

By : THE NATION

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https://www.nationthailand.com/life/40016048

A leading Thai virologist has shed light on how monkeypox can spread and how people can protect themselves.

In a Facebook post on Saturday, Dr Yong Poovorawan said that outside Africa, the disease was originally transmitted from animals to humans, especially from pet rodents like the Gambian pouched rat and Prairie dogs.

This time, however, there is no indication that monkeypox was transmitted by animals. However, he said, there is no need to worry because it can only be contracted through close contact with an infected person. Monkeypox does not spread as easily as Covid-19, so the spreading is limited to small areas.

He said in the past, people were inoculated against the virus, and if they did get infected after inoculation, they developed very few blisters.

Meanwhile, he said, the Jynneos vaccine (or Imvamune or Imvanex in Europe) can be used to provide immunity against the virus. However, he added, the inoculation is only advised for people who come in contact with infected persons.

Published : May 28, 2022

By : THE NATION

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https://www.nationthailand.com/life/40016041

A virologist explained how people can get infected with monkeypox and what precautions they should take.

In a Facebook post on Saturday, Dr Anan Jongkaewwattana said the virus is at its strongest in pustules, based on samples collected from patients in the UK from 2018 to 2021.

The virus was also found to be present in the upper respiratory tract based on mucus and saliva samples collected. In comparison, blood samples showed a lower amount of virus, though it could also be detected in urine samples.

Based on this information, he said, the virus can be spread in many ways. Direct contact with pustules or lesions is most risky, though people can also pick up the infection from mucus, saliva, blood or even urine while using a shared toilet.

“It may be sensible to continue using masks because monkeypox is reaching us,” he said.

Published : May 28, 2022

By : THE NATION

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https://www.nationthailand.com/life/40016020

The Public Health Ministry believes the frozen sample of smallpox vaccine dating back 40 years may offer a key to the prevention of monkeypox.

After a discussion on the subject with the World Health Organisation (WHO), Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said on Friday that the frozen sample will be sent to the Department of Medical Sciences (DMSC) for analysis.

The department will then check to see if it can be developed into a vaccine or medicine.

“The vaccine was kept for 40 years and must be inspected to see if it can be beneficial. Even the WHO cannot tell if this vaccine can work against the current version of monkeypox,” Anutin said.

Dr Kiatiphum Wongrajit, the ministry’s permanent secretary, said the vaccine may still be effective as it can be cultured.

Separately, DMSC director-general Suphakit Sirilak said people likely to be infected will undergo an RT-PCR test for monkeypox. Samples will be collected via a nasal swab if there is no rash or from the rash excretion.

People who have travelled from Africa or the UK and have a fever will be tested, while those who have developed a rash will be separated.

He added that some 10,000 doses of the vaccine had been frozen, and the department will take a while to see if it is safe and uncontaminated. It will also check to see if the vaccine can still provide some immunity.

He added that according to information dating back to the 1980s, this vaccine can provide 85-per-cent protection against smallpox, but he said this data was too old.

Also, he said, this vaccine came from a live virus so it could reproduce quickly, but the inspection process will take a long time and a committee will first have to be set up.

If there is a monkeypox case in Thailand, then the virus will be cultured to compare the immunity developed by people who received their smallpox jab in 1980.

As of Thursday, the number of monkeypox cases across the world rose by 35 to 344. The top five countries with the most cases are Spain with 120, followed by the UK with 77, Portugal with 49, Canada with 26 and Germany with 13.

Monkeypox was first discovered in 1958 when two outbreaks of a pox-like disease occurred among monkeys kept for research. The first human case of monkeypox was recorded in 1970 in Congo during a period of intensified effort to eliminate smallpox.

Published : May 27, 2022

By : THE NATION

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https://www.nationthailand.com/life/40015919

MedPark hospital and the Austrian Embassy in Bangkok have joined hands to promote collaboration and provide Austrian citizens in Thailand with the “best-equipped medical services”, a press release said.

The medical service agreement was signed on Tuesday by MedPark’s Prof Dr Sin Anuras and Dr Pongpat Patanavanich together with Austrian Consul-General Christina Lehner-Telic.

Stephanie Jakobitsch, head of Administration of Finance at the Austrian Embassy, was the guest of honour at the signing ceremony.

Published : May 25, 2022

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https://www.nationthailand.com/life/40015878

Monkeypox is now spreading through human-to-human contact, a leading virologist warned on Monday.

Dr Yong Poovorawan said the name “monkeypox” was misleading as most recent cases of the disease were male and certainly not infected by monkeys.

However, health experts say the monkeypox virus only spreads via close contact with an infected person.

Thailand has set up an emergency operations centre to monitor the global outbreak of monkeypox and tighten border controls following a surge in tourist arrivals this month.

Cases of the disease have been reported in at least 13 countries.

However, monkeypox has not yet been detected in Thailand.

Dr Yong said the disease is thought to have been carried to the US by imported giant Gambian rats before spreading among prairie dogs and humans.

So far, cases have been detected in the US, Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

Monkeypox causes flu-like symptoms – such as fever, chills, exhaustion, headache and muscle weakness – followed by a rash on the face and body.

However, health authorities around the world have downplayed fears of another pandemic on the scale of Covid-19. They point out that monkeypox is a far less infectious virus against which there is already effective protection, namely smallpox vaccine.

Published : May 24, 2022

By : THE NATION

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https://www.nationthailand.com/life/40015858

Surgery can reduce the chance of death from lung cancer by a third, lung specialist Dr Manoon Leechawengwongs said on Monday.

He was citing the case of an 84-year-old man who was treated for third-stage lung cancer in 2019.

Dr Manoon explained that the patient had stopped smoking for 35 years, but still had high blood pressure and higher than normal carcinoembryonic antigen level.

“We decided to cut the patient’s lower left lung and lymph nodes in the chest cavity after a 5-centimetre tumour was found,” he said, adding that the tumour was a poorly differentiated nonkeratinizing squamous cell cancer.

He said cancer had spread to lymph nodes near the tumour but not to lymph nodes in the chest cavity.

“After the surgery, the patient recovered gradually without having to rely on chemotherapy or radiation,” he said, adding that the patient is healthy three years later.

Lung cancer, or lung carcinoma, usually involves a malignant tumour characterised by uncontrolled cell growth in the lung tissues.

Up to 85 per cent of the cases of lung cancer are due to long-term smoking, though 10-15 per cent of cases have occurred in persons who have never smoked.

These cases are often caused by a combination of genetic factors, exposure to radon gas, asbestos, second-hand smoke or other forms of air pollution.

In 2020, lung cancer was diagnosed in 2.2 million people across the world, resulting in 1.8 million deaths. It is the most common cancer among both men and women.

Published : May 23, 2022

By : THE NATION

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https://www.nationthailand.com/life/40015757

Type A influenza is rearing its head again after having disappeared for two years, a lung specialist warned on Friday.

In a Facebook post, Dr Manoon Leechawengwongs warned people to beware of the virus as their immunity may have dropped over the past two years. This is because there were no infections and most people will not have taken their annual flu vaccine.

Hence, he said, people in the high-risk group, namely the elderly, people with underlying diseases, small children and pregnant women should get their flu shots as soon as possible.

He also said that both Covid-19 and Type A influenza have similar symptoms, namely fever, coughing, sore throat and runny nose. Thus, he said, people with these symptoms should be tested for both Covid-19 and influenza and take relevant drugs immediately.

Dr Manoon cited the case of a 75-year-old patient who suffers from hypertension and hyperlipidaemia. She visited a doctor on Wednesday, complaining of high fever, phlegm, sore throat, dizziness and nausea for four days. She said she had been with her three grandchildren, who all caught the flu from May 14 onwards.

The patient had no fever when she visited the doctor, and her oxygen levels and chest X-ray were normal. She tested positive for Type A influenza but not Covid-19 and was prescribed the relevant medication.

Dr Manoon added that another family had been hit by Type A influenza at around the same time.

Published : May 20, 2022

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/life/40015747

Monkeypox will continue spreading among humans for a while, the National Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology director Dr Anan Jongkaewwattana said on Thursday in response to new cases being detected in Europe and Canada.

Meanwhile, leading virologist Dr Yong Poovorawan said on Friday that monkeypox can only be transmitted through close contact, adding that a case was also detected in Singapore recently. As for the monkeypox case in Britain, he said the authorities are still checking to see if it was transmitted through sexual intercourse.

The first human case of monkeypox, a viral zoonotic disease, was recorded in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It has since been found primarily in Central and West Africa, and occasionally in other parts of the world.

The symptoms typically are fever, rash and swollen lymph nodes, and may lead to a range of medical complications.

Dr Anan said the monkeypox variant found in Africa is far more severe than the one currently infecting people in Europe and Canada. He added that the virus comes from the same family as smallpox, which was eradicated by 1980 thanks to widespread vaccination.

When monkeypox was first detected in 1958 among monkeys kept for research, “it was not a big issue because many people had been vaccinated against smallpox”. He said that though the smallpox vaccine can effectively prevent monkeypox infection, “it may spread among humans again as it has been a long time since people have been jabbed against smallpox”.

Separately, Dr Yong supported Dr Anan’s belief that smallpox vaccines can prevent monkeypox, but also urged Thais not to worry about this issue as monkeypox has not been found in Thailand before.

However, he said, surveillance is necessary, especially among travellers from Central and West Africa as well as imported animals.

Published : May 20, 2022

By : THE NATION

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https://www.nationthailand.com/life/40015669

Executives from IFC, the private sector lending arm of the World Bank Group, visited Princ Hospital Suvarnabhumi to promote and support the public health expansion into secondary provinces in Thailand.

May 10, 2022, Samut Prakan – International Finance Corporation (IFC) Managing Director Mr. Makhtar Diop, along IFC Vice President for East Asia and Pacific Mr. Alfonso Garcia Mora, visited Princ Hospital Suvarnabhumi. The party was welcomed by Mr John Lee Koshun, Principal Capital Pub Co., Ltd.’s chairman of the board, Dr. Satit Viddayakorn, Principal Capital’s managing director along with other company executives and the hospital’s healthcare and support staff.

IFC Managing Director Makhtar Diop at this occasion announced IFC’s willingness to support Principal Capital’s healthcare network’s plan to expand and improve the quality of public health and make healthcare more accessible to the Thai people in the secondary provinces’ per the company’s target.

Mr. Tanee Maneenut, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer of Principal Capital (PRINC) revealed the company’s 2023 plan to expand the hospital network to 20 hospitals, Klai Baan Klai Jai Clinic, a primary care clinic network to 40 clinics, alongside the plan to become a sustainable health network.

He also emphasized the company’s willingness to work with local investors that have the capability to expand the health network together with PRINC towards the common goal of improving Thai public health.

About IFC

The institution has made an investment as a partner in Principal Capital Public Co., Ltd. or PRINC since 2019. PRINC is the first private hospital network in Thailand that IFC has invested in. IFC is a financial institution under the World Bank Group which provides financial and management support to organizations in the private sector, especially in emerging markets. This is in line in order to achieve sustainable developments. This is aligned with the organization’s vision, goal, and code of conduct of PRINC’s healthcare network, that is to become an organization that creates people that are “givers”, and to enhance access to healthcare for people in the area of secondary provinces in Thailand.
 

About Principal Healthcare Group (PRINC)

Principal Healthcare is a healthcare management company operated under a Principal Capital Group or PRINC which is the fastest growing healthcare provider in Thailand and ASEAN. Found in 2017, the company’s mission is being a corporation that attracts and nurtures people with compassion, in order to provide care to our customers, the community and society, which is not only focus on the healthcare services but also extend assistance to the surrounding community to grow together with the company. With emphasis on digitalization and efficiency for highest client’s satisfaction, the company is staffed with highly experienced & highly qualified medical and healthcare practitioners, enabled by state-of-the-art diagnostic and medical/surgical equipment and provide our patients with safety care, effectively meaningful healthcare environment.

For further information on the Principal Healthcare, please visit www.princhealth.com.
 

Published : May 18, 2022

By : THE NATION