The Travel Doctor
Traveller's medical & vaccination centre
Health Alerts
Travel Doctor TMVC provides the latest health and travel alerts, including updates from the Department of Foreign Affairs.
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Mosquito-borne problems on Phuket
Monday, 6 July, 2009
Dengue fever virus disease, now present in most parts of the tropical world, has long been prevalent in Thailand including Phuket. This year, however, a similar mosquito-borne virus illness – chikungunya fever – has added emphasis to the need for visitors to the resort island to be obsessive about avoiding mosquito bites. According to recently released figures from the Phuket Public Health Office there have been 2155 confirmed cases of Chikungunya Fever in the province in the 1st half of this year (with no deaths.) Only 31 of these cases were among foreigners, mainly migrant labourers. Most tourists are fortunately by now aware of the need for personal protection from mosquito bites and the need to use effective insect repellents which partially accounts for the low numbers among visitors. However, the Public Health Office report refers only to confirmed notified cases so the figures may not reflect the true incidence One can expect more cases to occur in the next few months of the year so we remind visitors to Phuket that insect repellent must be an essential part of your luggage.
