Students’ diarrhea in Thai North attributed to drug-resistant salmonella bacteria

CHIANG MAI, THAILAND, July 11 (TNA) - Public health chief of Thailand's northern Chiang Mai Province Dr. Wattana Kanchanakamol has concluded that the severe and drug-resistant salmonella bacteria from donated boiled eggs caused diarrhea to hundreds of students earlier this week, with some 127 of them remaining at hospitals and one of them being in a critical condition. Dr. Wattana told reporters Wednesday that the students of Suksa Songkroh Chiang Mai School had eaten boiled eggs which had carried the severe and drug-resistant salmonella bacteria, causing over 500 of the children felling ill but about 367 of them having been recovering and discharged from hospitals. Dr. Wattana reported that 127 of the ill students have remained at nine hospitals, including one of them who suffer from serious blood infection and is now treated at an intensive care unit; while some of the children who were discharged from hospitals later returned to doctors because the bacteria can live for about three months although their impacts drop in 72 hours. Dr. Wattana affirmed that local health authorities can now control the illness and they are supervising hygiene at local schools and tracing 10 other places where some 9,700 boiled eggs were donated to stop their consumption. The provincial public health chief insisted that local health officials are ensuring hygiene at schools, especially boarding ones, warning that recipients of food products are to take precautions before consumption. (TNA)