Thai ministry holds daily MERS surveillance meeting

Daily meetings of the Ministry of Public Health continue to monitor the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) situation, while the Department of Health Service Support (HSS) has urged private hospitals and clinics to follow common practices in coping with the MERS case.
Daily meetings of the Ministry of Public Health continue to monitor theMiddle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) situation, while the Departmentof Health Service Support (HSS) has urged private hospitals and clinicsto follow common practices in coping with the MERS case.

Theministry’s MERS surveillance daily meeting continues to assess the riskfactor of the disease today, based on the epidemic information withinThailand and abroad. The meeting has established a team of academics tosuggest relevant options and new measures to deal with future cases.

Inthe meeting on June 22, the Bureau of Public Health Emergency Responsehas reported that 47 special patient rooms are now available athospitals in Pathum Thani and Samut Prakan province. The bureau has alsoordered Nakhon Phatom, Nonthaburi, Samut Sakhon, and Chachoengsaoprovinces to provide additional patient rooms and to establish anisolation criteria for inspection procedures, plan escape preventingmeasures, and assess the risks of current communication and managementperformances.

Meanwhile, the HSS has invited delegates fromprivate clinics and hospitals in the Greater Bangkok Area for a meetingto determine the guidelines and practices which should be enacted tocope with the MERS case.

The HSS stated that hospitals shouldenforce strict screenings of patients, especially for persons travelingfrom country where the MERS disease has been confirmed. Hospitalsequipped with low pressure isolation rooms should assume the role totreat these suspected MERS patents.

Hospitals are not allowed todecline the admittance of patients. Hospitals without adequatefacilities are required to contact the ministry for patient referring tocontain the spread of the virus. The decision to refer a patient shouldbe a shared responsibility between the patient and the relatedauthorities.

Following the discovery of the firstcase of the deadly MERS virus in Thailand, the Bangkok MetropolitanAdministration is tightening measures to curb the possible spread of thedisease.

All hospitals and clinics in the capital have beenwarned to screen patients who exhibit respiratory symptoms similar tothose of MERS and the people who arrive in Bangkok from at-risk areas.Quarantine rooms have been prepared for possible arrivals of MERSpatients.

Suvarnabhumi Airport will also screen and quarantinepassengers returning from MERS-hit countries. Over 1,000 Thai Muslimsare currently making a pilgrimage to Hajj in Saudi Arabia, one of thecountries with records of MERS outbreaks. Pamphlets and extrainformation are being given to pilgrims making the journey.

Additionalmeasures which include monitoring Thai workers and students as well asforeign visitors who traveled from countries with MERS have been put inplace.

The Ministry of Public Health has just reported that thecountry’s first MERS patient is now recovering from the disease. Threerelatives of the patient are being put under quarantine in a bid toprevent any outbreak.-VNA

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