Ministry gets prepared for second wave of influenza

       The Public Health Ministry is bracing for a second round of type-A (H1N1)influenza attacks in coming weeks.
       Reports of a second flu wave and a sharp jump in patients in the US and Mexico have prompted health authorities to issue an alert of a potential new strike as the weather cools and the new school term gets under way.
       People attending crowded activities,such as the Loy Kratong festival on Monday, are urged to protect themselves from the virus.
       "We have to carefully watch out for a flu outbreak over the next two to three weeks as 12 million students will return to school," said Kamnuan Ungchusak,a Public Health Ministry disease control expert.
       "Also, the cooling weather and festivities enable the virus to stay in the environment longer and transmit to more people without proper protection."
       Students were among the first group to contract the type-A H1N1 influenza when the first flu wave hit in late April.Thousands of schools in Bangkok were ordered closed for a week to contain the outbreak.
       About 40% of schools in Bangkok and 20% of more than 30,000 schools under the Office of the Basic Education Commission reported flu cases during the first round of the flu, Dr Kamnuan Paijit: Hospitals said.ready and waiting The epidemiologist believed schools in rural areas were at greater risk this time because the flu virus had spread to local communities.
       "It is worrying that local flu cases will increase rapidly if the new flu wave strikes," Dr Kamnuan said.
       Permanent secretary for public health Paijit Warachit said he would call a meeting today of provincial public health chiefs and livestock officials in the lower North and upper central provinces on preventing H1N1, seasonal flu and bird flu outbreaks.
       Health authorities are also working with medical schools and the Emergency Medical Institute of Thailand to build a network of emergency units to help cut mortality rates and ensure beds are available for critical patients.
       There have been 182 deaths in Thailand from H1N1 as of last Saturday.
       Hospitals are equipped to handle a possible surge of new patients from the second flu wave, Dr Paijit said.
       Lessons learned during the peak period of July and August show that both outpatient and ICU wards became quickly overwhelmed.
       An estimated 16,000 patients a day sought hospital treatment for flu-like illnesses during the peak period.
       Government Pharmaceutical Organisation managing director Witit Artavatkun yesterday said it was possible the clinical trial of the type-A (H1N1) vaccine could be undertaken by mid-November as experts had almost completed studying the product's stability.