ID :
190375
Wed, 06/22/2011 - 13:00
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Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/190375
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Thai Health Ministry conducts E. coli tests
UDON THANI, June 22 (TNA) - The Thai Ministry of Public Health is conducting official tests to see whether a police officer and a dead British tourist in Thailand's northeastern Udon Thani Province were infected with E. coli bacteria.
Dr. Khamnuan Ungchusak, an expert of the ministry's Department of Disease Control, confirmed on Wednesday that samples, including excrement, from the police officer and the dead 66-year-old British tourist were collected and the official tests at the Department of Medical Sciences' laboratory have been underway.
Dr. Khamnuan said, however, that he does not think the dead British tourist and the police officer in Udon Thani were infected with E. coli as the bacteria cannot be transmitted by contacts and has an incubation period of 2-10 days. Dr. Khamnuan acknowledged that the result of the official tests should be known by June 23 at the latest, advising all those, including police, who handle dead bodies to wash their hands after work.
Dr. Khamnuan was responding to a case in which the police officer in Udon Thani suffered from diarrhea after inspecting the body of the British tourist who died recently in a hotel room. The sick police officer reportedly saw stains of the dead British tourist's excrement and touched his passport.
Preliminary inspections showed that the dead foreign tourist suffered from extreme dehydration, and that he might be, instead, infected with vibrio parahaemolyticus bacteria which are carried by uncooked seafood, or with salmonella bacteria or cholera which can also cause diarrhea and severe dehydration.
Dr. Khamnuan revealed that diarrhea results from infections through eating and drinking only, not through skin or the environment. Therefore, people can protect themselves from the infections by frequently washing their hands and eating well-cooked food.
Meanwhile, Permanent Secretary for Public Health Dr. Paijit Warachit said that the dead British tourist, identified as Daniel Forges, arrived in Thailand on June 5 and developed acute diarrhea 12-13 days later. Dr. Paijit noted that preliminary tests had shown he did not die from the deadly O104 strain of the Escherichia coli or E. coli bacteria as feared, and that there have been no confirmed infections of the deadly O104 E. coli strain in Thailand so far. (TNA)
Dr. Khamnuan Ungchusak, an expert of the ministry's Department of Disease Control, confirmed on Wednesday that samples, including excrement, from the police officer and the dead 66-year-old British tourist were collected and the official tests at the Department of Medical Sciences' laboratory have been underway.
Dr. Khamnuan said, however, that he does not think the dead British tourist and the police officer in Udon Thani were infected with E. coli as the bacteria cannot be transmitted by contacts and has an incubation period of 2-10 days. Dr. Khamnuan acknowledged that the result of the official tests should be known by June 23 at the latest, advising all those, including police, who handle dead bodies to wash their hands after work.
Dr. Khamnuan was responding to a case in which the police officer in Udon Thani suffered from diarrhea after inspecting the body of the British tourist who died recently in a hotel room. The sick police officer reportedly saw stains of the dead British tourist's excrement and touched his passport.
Preliminary inspections showed that the dead foreign tourist suffered from extreme dehydration, and that he might be, instead, infected with vibrio parahaemolyticus bacteria which are carried by uncooked seafood, or with salmonella bacteria or cholera which can also cause diarrhea and severe dehydration.
Dr. Khamnuan revealed that diarrhea results from infections through eating and drinking only, not through skin or the environment. Therefore, people can protect themselves from the infections by frequently washing their hands and eating well-cooked food.
Meanwhile, Permanent Secretary for Public Health Dr. Paijit Warachit said that the dead British tourist, identified as Daniel Forges, arrived in Thailand on June 5 and developed acute diarrhea 12-13 days later. Dr. Paijit noted that preliminary tests had shown he did not die from the deadly O104 strain of the Escherichia coli or E. coli bacteria as feared, and that there have been no confirmed infections of the deadly O104 E. coli strain in Thailand so far. (TNA)
