A MILLION INFECTED BY SWINE-FLU VIRUS IN FOUR MONTHS, SAYS MINISTRY

       More than a million Thais have been infected by the typeA (H1N1) virus in the past four months, the Public Health Ministry revealed yesterday
       Public Health Minister Witthaya Kaewparadai said yesterday that some 60 million of the Thai population are now at risk of being infected by the new flu virus.
       "Surveillance remains an important mechanism to fight the pandemic," he added.
       Earlier, Disease Control Department spokesperson Dr Suppamit Chunsutiwat estimated that more than 6 million to 30 million people would be infected by the new flu virus and about 600 to 1,200 people would die from the pandemic as most people do not have immunity against the type A (H1N1) virus.
       He added that the pandemic was likely to continue for two to three years and then become the annual flu.
       Former Public Health Minister Dr Mongkol Na Songkla, who chairs the Thai Health Promotion Foundation's subcommittee to fight the typeA (H1N1) influenza, said the pandemic in Bangkok and nearby provinces was slowing down. However, the disease had spread to upcountry provinces, especially among farmers.
       Witthaya urged farmers who develop flulike symptoms to stay at home and avoid close contact with poultry as the disease could be transmitted from human to animals.
       "The Department of Livestock is closely monitoring the birdflu virus H5N1 and H1N1," he said. "So far, we have not seen any mutation of the new flu virus and drug resistant virus strain."
       Meanwhile, Government Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO) board chairperson Dr Wichai Chokwiwat said the GPO has decided to produce the live attenuated vaccine against the typeA (H1N1) virus after the World Health Organisation, laboratories in the Netherlands and Russia confirmed that the virus seed vaccine - imported from Russia - proved to be safe on animals and its genotype and gene expression did not change.
       The GPO's scientists had last week injected the virus vaccine into the second lot of 1,500 of specific free pathogen eggs. The eggs were then incubated for two to three days during which time the virus multiplied. The eggs will he harvested once it contains millions of virus vaccine.
       Wichai said the GPO will harvest the second lot of the virus vaccine from the eggs on August 31. If the eggs produce the virus vaccine with a higher yield than the first lot of eggs, GPO will have to delay the human trial for two weeks.
       However, if the second lot of eggs produce vaccine virus with lower yield than the first lot of eggs, GPO could use the vaccine virus harvested from the first lot of eggs.
       Even the first lot of eggs produced a low yield of the virus vaccine but the World Health Organisation's expert said the amount from the first lot would be enough to produce vaccine and could be tested on 12 volunteers by September 4. However, GPO will make its decision whether to delay or continue the human trial followed the deadline.