Dean Siriraj pointed out the current covid situation. not yet classified as a local disease Once again, there is a chance May return to a large outbreak if you are careless and neglect self-defense measures. Repeat! The covid vaccine is an important factor that helps Must be able to inject at least 50% of the needle, while the Thai 3 needle can inject 36.6%, need to accelerate the injection to reach the goal.
At 10:00 a.m. on April 25, 2022 Prof. Dr. Prasit Wattanapha, Dean of Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital Mahidol University Provide information via Facebook Live about the latest situation of COVID-19 abroad and in Thailand. And the trend of becoming endemic that the World Health Organization states that Two species that are currently being watched are the Delta and the Omikron, but the delta is soon believed to have been swallowed up. The only thing left is omikron, where omikron includes various subspecies, including the X series, as it is reported to tend to spread approximately 10% faster than BA.2, but is not more severe.
Prof. Dr. Prasit said that the epidemic situation of the world Currently, there are 505,817,953 cases, with cumulative deaths 6213876, but if you consider the daily mortality starting to decline, caused by 2 factors: the virus itself and the world has already had a number of vaccinations. However, data from 22 April. last year Europe’s drop in infection rates is still relatively slow. But the American continent was rapidly declining. While in Southeast Asia, the Western Pacific continent has started to decline. In summary, many areas have started to decline continuously.
Information on April 23, 2022, the world has been vaccinated. 11,544,346,261 doses, more than 13 million doses of injection per day, with an average of 100 people in the world receiving 147 doses of vaccine, but people around the world have not been vaccinated with 2 doses of vaccine
For the situation of infection in each country such as
– United States, now the infection rate is down, numbers 4-5 thousand, although still a lot, but less than before, the latest 3 digit deaths on April 23, 77 deaths, of which America has been vaccinated. Over 571 million doses out of a population of over 334 million, 500,000 injections a day, of which 76.7% of Americans received one dose, 65.4% received two doses, and 29.7% received a booster. I see that some Americans don’t get all 2 shots of vaccination.
– United Kingdom It is another country that has tested many systems. Freedom Day is open Stop wearing masks but eventually had to return to control because of the epidemic of omikron The mortality rate has not decreased like the United States. More than 141 million doses of 68 million people have been vaccinated, and 79.1% received one dose, 74% received two and 58.2% received one.
– Japan is a country with a lot of elderly people. by now better from the original infection to hundreds of thousands But now half a hundred thousand infected. However, it is a country that has vaccinated more than 267 million doses for more than 125 million people, with 50.2% booster vaccinations. including South Korea It used to be a country that was regarded as having good control over the virus. especially the first year But after the Omikron
– The situation in South Korea has changed. causing the infection to increase dramatically By the time of infection, up to 2-3 hundred thousand people per day and almost 500 deaths per day, but now it has decreased. More than 122 million doses have been vaccinated from a population of 51 million people, which is considered a lot of vaccination. By injecting a needle to stimulate 63.8% in Vietnam, now the average infection is less than Thailand. with a very low mortality rate Some days, there are 1 digits left. Over 208 million doses of vaccination from 98 million people.
– Malaysia has always been a country that has been parallel to Thailand. and the birth of omichron At that time in Malaysia the Delta was not yet over. The number of infections is high, 30,000 cases per day, but less today. and deaths decreased some days to 1 digit, which is similar to Vietnam More than 69 million doses have been vaccinated in a population of 33 million, and 48.6% have had a booster shot.
– Singapore has about 2-3 thousand infections per day, but it is on the downtrend. including the mortality rate Some days no one dies. More than 13 million doses have been vaccinated. Of the population of over 5 million people, nearly 70% have received a booster shot.
“What to emphasize is Vaccination measures are important, but may not be enough if vaccines are used alone. There must be other measures as well. But booster vaccination is still important. The target must be at least 50% because countries that are well-controlled will inject more than 50% of boosters.”
Prof. Dr. Prasit said that for Thailand More than 20,000 cases of infection per day, three-digit deaths. More than 132 million doses of covid vaccination from a population of more than 70 million people. 36.6% of booster vaccinations are still far from 50%. If you want the number of deaths to be left to 2 digits, now it’s still 3 digits. However, in the past 3-4 days, the numbers have started to rarely increase in patients with pneumonia. If it continues like this, within 1-2 weeks we will see a decrease in the number of deaths.
Prof. Dr. Prasit said that the direction of Covid will be a local disease, from the information is that the occurrence of Omikron almost 5 months ago that the world has known. And the data is the same: the virulence is lower than the delta species. however, this species spreads faster than the delta. However, the omikron is characterized by its rapid spread and is mild, which has led many scholars to consider Likely to reach the line for covids to travel to endemic disease. from time to time There is a distance between people. Society is not as close as it used to be. must wear a mask have to work, have to study distance which everyone wants to see covid 19 to the end of the epidemic and lead to local disease
However, for a broader definition of local disease It is a disease that is found regularly in a certain group of people, areas, or periods of time. There may be some outbreaks. from time to time but usually does not exceed the expected level. It is generally a disease that has measures or methods of control. It is important to emphasize that Endemic diseases can also have a mortality rate. like malaria or wild fever, so far it kills more than 400,000 people a year, or some diseases that start It is a herpes infection that can affect up to half of the population in some areas. but just not many symptoms
“The situation at this time Covid infection is not yet a local disease and there is still a chance. even though it doesn’t look much that again caused a large epidemic therefore do not want to underestimate Importantly, the definitions of local diseases are not all the same,” said Prof. Dr. Prasit.
Prof. Dr. Prasit said that many countries have begun to have policies to balance health and economy. Thailand as well All of which, look carefully, may be a risk factor for the covids to come back to spread. But we have to run for a better economy. But we have to manage the risk of COVID. Emphasis on prevention and treatment for many invasive viruses. It is quite difficult to prevent infection. but can reduce infection and if the infection is not severe And not dying would be a good goal.
Prof. Dr. Prasit said that the best way to prevent the damage of the coronavirus at this time is to have two main injections and one booster needle, two of which are not enough. must have a needle to stimulate And in parallel with wearing a mask, when COVID-19 is mutated, vaccine efficacy is reduced. The more you find Omikron, so self-defense measures. For example, wearing a hygienic mask is important. Including ATK testing when necessary. However, for the balance of treatment for covids, “Omicron” now does not focus on hospital treatment. because the symptoms are not severe which when not a risk group Therefore, there is a tendency for out-of-hospital treatment and monitoring through the registration system. To make hospital beds available to care for people with other diseases that are not covids but need to be treated in the hospital
For people in the important risk group, not only 608, but people who have not been vaccinated or have received 2 injections but more than 3 months, these people if they have symptoms. Even a little has to rush to the hospital. According to follow-up data for 6-8 weeks, about 50-60% of deaths each day found that about 50-60% were not vaccinated. And in Thailand, we still have more than 2 million people who have not been vaccinated and found that 30% or 1 in 3 people are people who have been vaccinated with 2 injections and 2 needles for more than 3 months and have not returned to vaccination. There are still 10% who have had one injection but no further injections. Overall, these 3 numbers are almost 90%, which is a group of people who have not been vaccinated properly. They are also at risk.
“On April 14, last The World Health Organization has officially warned that Covid has not yet entered the situation as a local disease, although it is likely, but has not yet reached and may mutate. And in some countries, another pandemic may occur. In conclusion, do not be quick to judge. until neglecting things That we have been doing for two years,” said Prof. Dr. Prasit.
Prof. Dr. Prasit said that success requires cooperation from 3 parties, namely those that set measures and policies. Must be cautious in determining measures must be clear to implement The parties implementing measures and policies must be committed. responsible which is not a health worker but also entrepreneurs and the parties affected by measures and policies However, an important factor in this transition period is that vaccinations require booster needles. and the preparation of the health care system, namely the people, the beds, and the participation of the people to help prevent infection and transmission.