Is the Thai Government Over Reacting to H1N1, Thailand.

Here in Thailand the H1N1 virus or ‘swine flu’ paranoia is hitting fever pitch.

It isn’t bad enough that the Thai media is blowing everything out of proportion. Hospitals are being overrun with people who have the slightest cough or temperature.

Rumours are flying about the place; students have supposedly died from swine flu from a local school. I call a teacher from this school and again I am told this isn’t true.

If you accidently clear your throat in public, people look at you like you are a leper or may be carrying a plague like virus.

Now the Thai government has plunged to new deaths of stupidity. I had been reading for days about what the Thai government was thinking of doing, but today it became reality.

These people who are meant to be leaders of this country really lack the most basic levels of common sense. The Thai cabinet passed today and ordered ‘tutorial schools’ or schools that teach from Monday to Friday from 4pm onwards and also on Saturdays and Sundays to close for two weeks.

Why do these extra curricular schools have to close you ask?

It’s apparently because a few students have caught the H1N1 virus from these schools. I don’t know how the government has come to this conclusion, but they have.

Also they have asked, just asked ‘internet cafes’ to also close for the two week period to help prevent spreading the H1N1 virus.

During the two weeks the owners are expected to clean their businesses from top to bottom and then sit around with a finger in their arse.

Why is the government adding to this paranoia about H1N1?

Why doesn’t the government close the very popular and crowded karaoke booths, also cinemas, shopping centres just to name a few places to start with.

The kids who are contracting the virus could be getting it from anywhere they have been. It is so stupid to pinpoint just two places when there are other establishments that are worse.

A friend watched people wearing masks at a very popular nightclub here in Isaan, pulling their masks down to drink there alcoholic drinks and then put their masks back on. He said he was pissing himself laughing.

As soon as you have touched the actual mask with your hands you have contaminated it. It needs to be thrown away.

So these people, who were wearing masks, end up contracting the virus and automatically think they couldn’t have caught it from the nightclub as they were wearing a dirty, virus filled mask.

Let’s look at a few facts on H1N1.

H1N1 Influenza A. The H means hemagglutinin and the N means neuraminidase and the 1s refer to their antibody type. Influenza A is a genus of the Orthomyxoviridae family of viruses, and refers to the fact that the virus is first identified in an animal, usually a pig or a bird.

H1N1 is transmitted the way any viral disease is transmitted -- person-to-person contact, by touching something someone with a virus has already touched, or from droplets in the air which come from a sneeze or a cough of a person who has the virus.

There is no vaccine available for this strain of H1N1, yet. A vaccine may be developed, but if so, it will not be available until later this year.

This virus is not as dangerous as avian flu.

The H1N1 virus is not airborne, to be considered an airborne virus, the microorganism would have to survive or remain in the air for long periods of time. The H1N1 virus, like all influenza viruses do not stay in the air in some sort of suspended animation. When a person sneezes, the virus is transferred via the droplets of the sneeze, if someone is infected this way it is known as infection by "Droplet contact" or a "Respiratory Route"

Myths

Wearing surgical masks can protect against H1N1. Not exactly. The only type of a mask that can relatively protect against the virus is N95. However, it's very difficult to wear it for long.

Quarantine will save everybody. Don't believe it. It is absolutely unrealistic to completely isolate and localize a respiratory virus infection.

This from WHO (World Health Organization)

If you are not sick you do not have to wear a mask.

If you are caring for a sick person, you can wear a mask when you are in close contact with the ill person and dispose of it immediately after contact, and cleanse your hands thoroughly afterwards.

If you are sick and must travel or be around others, cover your mouth and nose.

Using a mask correctly in all situations is essential. Incorrect use actually increases the chance of spreading infection.

Yes, it is a concern as people are dying and getting sick but the normal flu also does this. WHO has raised H1N1 to a pandemic alert. WHO’s decision to raise the pandemic alert level to Phase 6 is a reflection of the spread of the virus, not the severity of illness caused by the virus.

What needs to be done by governments, instead of scaremongering the people is educate them on the correct procedures on how they can enhance their chances of not contracting the disease.

Wash hands frequently with soap and water or use alcohol-based hand cleaner when soap and water are not available. Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth.

These are just a few.

Brunty