New cases of monkey pox (Mpox) and coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) continue to rise since June with the presence of a severer mpox strain and a low fatality rate for Covid-19, according to the Department of Disease Control.
Dr Montien Kanasawat, director-general of the department, said on Wednesday that from Jan 1 to Aug 23, Thailand recorded 254 Mpox cases, including 193 cases of the Clade Ib strain and 58 cases of the Clade II strain.
Patients were in Greater Bangkok, big cities and tourist provinces. Transmission resulted from sexual intercourses, which were related to visits to closed and crowded places.
Dr Montien said the Mpox situation in Thailand remained controllable and the number of cases was rising for the Clade Ib strain, which caused more severe symptoms than the Clade II strain especially in patients with low immunity.
Symptoms include fever, headache, swollen lymph nodes and rashes.
Regarding Covid-19 infection, Dr Jurai Wongsawat, spokeswoman of the Department of Disease Control, said from Jan 1 to Aug 31 there were about 99,000 cases. Records showed that there were more cases since June due to the conditions of the wet season but total cases were lower than figures in the past three years.
She said that the current fatality rate among Covid-19 patients was at 0.02% and most deaths were patients above the age of 60.
There had not been a child fatality this year as there were enough medicine and efficient treatment systems, which limited symptoms, Dr Jurai added.
Vaccination, good personal hygiene and avoiding close contact with infected people or contaminated surfaces are key to preventing both coronavirus and mpox. Covid-19 mainly spreads through respiratory droplets, whereas mpox spreads primarily through close, skin-to-skin contact.