Lab tests show no new Influenza A (H1N1) cases in Thailand

BANGKOK, May 15 (TNA) - The number of Thais infected with the Influenza A H1N1 virus remains at two after laboratory tests proved that a local boy in Phitsanulok province, suspected of having the new strain of influenza, tested negative.

Deputy Permanent Secretary for public health Paichit Varachit said the boy in Phitsanulok had returned from Mexico showing signs of infection but has since made a full recovery.

Another flu case, a 68-year-old man who returned from the US and is being treated in hospital in Ayutthaya has also been cleared after a lab test confirmed he had nothing more than seasonal flu.

There are currently 15 flu cases under medical surveillance, he added.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported H1N1 infections in 33 countries and the number of H1N1 patients has reached 6,497 with the death toll thus far at 65, said the deputy permanent secretary.

The Department of Disease Control's director general, Dr Somchai Chakrabhand said that the public health ministry has stockpiled more than four million anti-viral Oseltamivir capsules.

The ministry will also spend some 15 million baht to purchase the flu fighting drug Zanamivir for stockpiling. (TNA)