Public Health Ministry to adjust its swine flu reports

BANGKOK, 22 June 2009 (NNT) – The Ministry of Public Health has decided to revise its influenza A (H1N1) report protocol to better highlight patients admitted to hospital.

Deputy Permanent Secretary for Public Health Dr. Paijit Warachit said that from now on his ministry will issue more detailed reports of influenza A (H1N1) infection figures. The new reports will distinguish between severe infections and patients confirmed to have been infected but experiencing mild symptoms. The change was prompted by fears of panic over the ballooning figures.

The ministry also admitted that one infection in a 50-year-old woman had been found to be especially worrying as the patient already had a number of other ailments. Siriraj medical personnel and some private medical professionals are working together to study the case by endoscopy. The ministry reminded citizens however that the severity of the H1N1 flu was dependent on the physical health of each individual.