News Forum - German tourist tests positive for monkeypox in Phuket, Thailand

[Thaiger]

A German man has tested positive for monkeypox in Phuket, becoming Thailand’s third recorded case of the virus since the global outbreak began. The 25 year old German tourist travelled to Thailand on July 18 for a holiday in Phuket. Shortly after arriving in the kingdom, he began presenting with monkeypox symptoms. At first, the man developed a fever and swollen lymph nodes. Later on, he developed a rash on his genitals which spread all over his body, so he went to a hospital in Phuket where he was tested for the virus by PCR. The positive result was confirmed […]

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[DoUKnowWhoIAm]

1 hour ago, Thaiger said:

As for the risk that monkeypox will spread in Thailand, we have observed three cases in males so far including two foreign males and one Thai male, all of whom had close contact with foreign males. Thailand’s data is in line with the World Health Organisation’s data which states that 98% of monkeypox cases are found in men who had a history of sexual relations with men. Therefore, the people at risk are those with close contact with foreign men.”

So if you have been in contact with that Thai man who tested positive, you're not at risk?

[Chatogaster]

2 hours ago, DoUKnowWhoIAm said:

So if you have been in contact with that Thai man who tested positive, you're not at risk?

 

It may seem like a good observation, but in all fairness, the original statement doesn't include your "who tested positive" condition, so you're not playing (the game of statistics) fair.

Duly ignoring the condition, the original statement actually makes sense. Substituting the UK for anything foreign for simplicity & quick results:

So far, about 2,700 cases have been identified in the UK (pop: 68 million).
So far, about 3 cases have been identified in Thailand (pop: 70 million).

I've got no reason to believe there's a huge gap between identified cases and actual cases. So without knowledge of the infection status, close contacts with a Thai should be 900 times less probable (monkeypox-wise) than with someone from the UK, and risk is proportional to probability. It's never absolute 0, but in my opinion, a 900-fold reduction warrants the original statement (for now, i.e. until percentages level out among countries).
 

 

[palooka]

Thailand is importing 1000 doses of smallpox vaccines 

If an outbreak occurs and more vaccines are needed, Thai people can be vaccinated with Thailand’s stash of 40 year old smallpox vaccines which were produced in 1979 and 1980. The vaccines are still safe to use and are 85% effective in preventing monkeypox, according to Thailand’s Department of Medical Sciences.

Simple question:   Why are they importing 1000 doses?

Maybe a little lack of confidence in those old vaccines, or "the righteous" demand for new?

[Janneman]

40 minutes ago, palooka said:

Simple question:   Why are they importing 1000 doses?

Perhaps they want fresh vaccine for high-ranking government officials and other important people?

[Loong]

Quote

The Ministry of Public Health said that vaccines would be made available to high-risk and vulnerable groups such as Thailand.

So the whole of Thailand is a vulnerable group?!

[Ramanathan.P]

Looks like Phuket has once again became the epicenter for another communicable disease....if not pandemic at this juncture...