Warnings on flu and diseases related to global warming
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http://www.nationmultimedia.com/home/2009/11/28/national/Warnings-on-flu-and-diseases-related-to-global-war-30117524.html#
Vaccination is not a foolproof solution to the typeA (H1N1) influenza and may ultimately cause paralฌysis in those with health risks, a seminar on the disease and global warming was told yesterday.
People at greatest risk are women more than threemonths pregnant, people weighing more than 100 KG and people with "intelligence challenges" or other mental problems as well as anyone with chronic diseases, said Dr Theerawat Hamejutha, a World Health Organisation (WHO) official.
The most dangerous complications coming with the 2009 influenza are not only lung infections, which many people know about, but also brain or nerverelated infecฌtions, he said.
Citing research from the United States, some vaccinated people have reported severe headaches, lethargy, convulsions, paralysis or Guillain-Barr้ syndrome, he said. "Unlike seasonal or common flu, those who have the 2009 influenza are not necessarily immune to it, and still face the risk of a second contraction," he added.
He said global warming would put humans at greater risk of new diseases both through humantohuman and infection from animals. Higher temperatures will prompt rodents, which are good carriers of diseases, to migrate and face greater exposure to diseases among themselves and to humans.
Viral diseases associated with cattle will be more immune while dengue will not manifest rashes or other early symptoms, such as sepsis, making early treatments more difficult and resulting in fatality, he said.
Dr Suphaphorn Watcharaphruetsadee, a WHO researcher, said a viral disease carried by bats could break out in Thailand in the first six months of next year. Research has found that bat populations in seven provinces - Chon Buri, Chachoengsao, Prachin Buri, Sing Buri, Sara Buri and Ayutthaya - carry the disease.
This socalled nipah virus disease could be spreading to pigs and other swine through direct contact with the bats' urine or saliva, she added.
Asst Professor Jiraphol Sinthunawa of Mahidol University warned against scombrotoxin and toxin in certain fish species. This is caused by fish feeding on new types of poisonous algae that have evolved due to global poisonฌing. Edible sea clams of certain species will also be full of toxin, he said.
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