ABSTRACT
Leptospirosis is an emerging health problem in Thailand, with dramatic increases in reported incidence since 1996. The annual number of reported leptospirosis cases increased from 398 cases in 1996 to 14,285 cases in 2000. In 2001, 2002, and 2003, the number of reported cases decreased, but still remained high at 10,217, 6,864, and 4,958 cases, respectively. The epidemiological characteristics of leptospirosis in Thailand include a peak incidence in September and October in association with the rainy season. A vast majority of the cases (90%) were reported in the Northeast region. The case fatality rate was as high as 4.4%, having a predominant association with male farmers aged 15 to 45 years. Outpatient cases were approximately 9 times more common than admitted cases, with an apparent recent shift in the pattern of infecting serovars among reservoir animals and humans.
Subject(s)
Adolescent , Adult , Agriculture , Animals , Child , Child, Preschool , Communicable Diseases, Emerging/epidemiology , Female , Geography , Humans , Incidence , Leptospirosis/epidemiology , Male , Middle Aged , Rodentia/microbiology , Seasons , Thailand/epidemiology , Zoonoses/epidemiologyABSTRACT
This surveillance study reveal the incidence of Japanese encephalitis cases throughout the year with an increase during the rainy-seasons. JEV attacks all ages, but with a high incidence found in age group between 8 to 14 years determined from the studies in 1974, 1975 and 1976 and records of distribution in 40 provinces of Thailand. The severity of infection is high to warrant virus surveillance by the Ministry of public Health.
Subject(s)
Adolescent , Child , Encephalitis Virus, Japanese/isolation & purification , Encephalitis, Japanese/epidemiology , Hemagglutination Inhibition Tests , Humans , Population Surveillance , ThailandABSTRACT
A long-term surveillance system is necessary for planning and evaluation of hemorrhagic fever control Dry blood collection and using one dengue 2 antigen have been proved to be an efficient method to detect low and high level of HI antibody, determined to prove dengue infection. The percentage of dengue infection serologically proved from cases reported throughout a 3 year study was 52%. Dengue infected cases were reported outside epidemic period with lowest incidence in January. The majority of dengue proven cases occur at age 6 years. For chikungunya infection, studied in Bangkok metropolis and in this study in 72 provinces shows similar result indicating that chikungunya virus shows no significance in clinical and laboratory study in the surveillance programme. This study provides definite information for the planning and evaluation of hemorrhagic fever control.