Vaccines being readied to avert flu outbreak
THAI authorities are preparing 7 million flu vaccines for distribution among seven at-risk groups as well as 400,000 doses for medical personnel and people whose jobs expose them to flu as part of measures to control influenza outbreak this year.
The measures were approved by the National Board on Communicable Diseases yesterday.
After presiding over a meeting with the board, Dr Thawat Sunthrajarn, assistant to the public health minister, said the three approved measures included a campaign to raise awareness about flu risk and how to protect against it; vaccinations for target groups; and monitoring the disease and outbreak.
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Those most at risk are: women who are four months or more into their pregnancy; children from six months to two years old; patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, diabetes and cancer requiring chemotherapy; persons above the age of 65; cerebral palsy patients; those with thalassemia or HIV; and those suffering from obesity (weight of over 100 kilograms and a Body Mass Index of more than 35).
Also people working as medical personnel, disease investigation officials, poultry-culling workers, laboratory technicians/scientists, as well as medical and public health students also face the risk of flu infections.