Unconfirmed second swine flu fatality in Saraburi

Strong rumours suggest Saraburi has had it's second swine flu death with another student from one of city's high school falling victim to the virus.

Despite strong rumours of a second fatality, the school/government/media is yet to acknowledge the first victim, a girl aged 11/12 from Saraburi Witthayakhom school.

The closed before the public holiday last week although local students suggested that this only occurred after senior students threatened to strike following outbreaks of swine flu across the school.

News of the second fatality reached me from city hospital workers from whom I received news of the first death - which, itself is now a locally acknowledged fact.

It would be nice to hear confirmation of the current situation, as both a local resident and father of a young child the situation continues to concern me.

In the meantime, I'll continue wearing the mask to work and will consider renaming this blog to reflect my obsession with the swine-flu situation in my town.

Saraburi's swine flu cover-up

Since I blogged the rumours of a first swine flu fatality last Saturday I've my (and the missus's) eyes and ears glued to new sources. Yet for all our listening there has been no announcement of the death, which remains a rumour.

Today, however, a number of school students and more hospital workers further verified the rumours of the death by confirming the victim was a mattyom (senior year) one (12/13 years old) girl.

The students also revealed that their school, Saraburi Witthayakhom, has told its members to stop spreading the news as there has been no death. This despite the fact that many of the girl's classmates know the family and are aware of her death.

Rumours today suggest that the school suspended its lessons last week only because senior classes went on strike, concerned at outbreaks of swine flu in numerous classes. Hardly the picture painted when the press reported the closure.

Saraburi may just be another town in Thailand but the implications of this cover-up are widereaching. If other towns are also holding back information then you can forget the official figures in the daily press as we have no idea what the real picture is.

In the meantime, I've given up waiting for confirmation of last week's fatality in Saraburi - sometimes you just have to accept this is how Thailand works.

H1N1 officially arrives

Story from the Post.

In Saraburi province, Saraburi Witthayakhom school has suspended classes until July 9 after two students tested positive for H1N1 and three students developed flu-like symptoms.

The two students with flu picked it up after returning from tuition schools in Bangkok, while the three students with flu-like symptoms fell ill after they went to a weekend concert by the Korean boy band Dong Bang Shin Ki, at Impact Arena Muang Thong Thani.

On top of this, I spoke to a senior figure at the local hospital in Saraburi who claimed the town had its first H1N1 fatality today. This has, however, yet to be reported anywhere that I can see, so the number of fatalities in Thailand remains at 7.

My contact assures me that there have been a number of active cases in Saraburi but today is the first time the province has been named an infected zone.

With Thailand currently on holiday until Thursday for the start of the Buddhist retreat, the family and I will be spending the time off cautiously laying low. With an 8 month old in the house, it really isn't worth the risk.