ABOUT 40 delegates from the international dengue conference visited Koh Maprao today to see close up how the island manages to stay free of the disease.
For three years, despite spiralling cases of the dengue in other parts of Thailand, the island that lies just a short distance from Phuket has had no cases.
Its good record on dengue extends back to 2001.
Since 1980, more than 50 million people around the world had contracted dengue, the conference has been told.
Even in Singapore, where an extensive campaign was conducted to promote public awareness of the disease, dengue continues to inflict pain and suffering.
While the number of deaths have dropped because of improved methods of treatment, the cost to mostly urban societies, especially in terms of health care and patient recovery time, continues to grow.
The Second International Conference on Dengue and Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever 2008, being held at the Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort, heard yesterday that high hopes are held for development ofr a vaccine that will provide protection.
Trials so far on animals have proved successful to the point where tests on humans are being proposed for Thailand.
The vaccine could be in widespread public use within five or 10 years. But it may not protect against all forms of dengue.
The experience on Koh Maprao provides an alternative way of managing the disease, by improving community health care.
Koh Maprao, home to about 800 people, has nine volunteers who work with the local Imam, island authorities and school headmasters to prevent the development of all diseases, dengue included.
On Phuket, where spraying to reduce populations of mosquitos is standard procedure to control numbers, the incidence of dengue is rising.
It's the same throughout Thailand, especially in more urban central provinces, with thought-provoking exceptions such as Koh Maprao.
In other moves designed to combat dengue, conference delegates heard of the formation of an umbrella group committee covering both South-East Asia and the Western Pacific.
Health officials from Singapore and Thailand also agreed to meet regularly to discuss control and prevention.
Vietnam, the conference heard, had come up with a low-cost control method by encouraging the natural predators of the mosquito along waterways.
The best method of controlling dengue was more simply explained: kill, kill, kill those immature mosquito larvae.
Phuket Set To Lead World on Dengue Fever
Phuket leads the world in one aspect of the killer disease that islanders whisper about at parties, Dengue Fever. It's time to start talking more loudly about Dengue, and to celebrate Koh Maprao, too.
Phuket Set To Lead World on Dengue Fever
Phuket Dengue: Vaccine Coming, Experts Report
The painful, potentially deadly and expanding disease of dengue fever may be controlled by a vaccine in Thailand if testing works, a large international conference on Phuket is told.
Phuket Dengue: Vaccine Coming, Experts Report
For three years, despite spiralling cases of the dengue in other parts of Thailand, the island that lies just a short distance from Phuket has had no cases.
Its good record on dengue extends back to 2001.
Since 1980, more than 50 million people around the world had contracted dengue, the conference has been told.
Even in Singapore, where an extensive campaign was conducted to promote public awareness of the disease, dengue continues to inflict pain and suffering.
While the number of deaths have dropped because of improved methods of treatment, the cost to mostly urban societies, especially in terms of health care and patient recovery time, continues to grow.
The Second International Conference on Dengue and Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever 2008, being held at the Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort, heard yesterday that high hopes are held for development ofr a vaccine that will provide protection.
Look for Phuketwan updates from the international dengue conference and have your say below
Trials so far on animals have proved successful to the point where tests on humans are being proposed for Thailand.
The vaccine could be in widespread public use within five or 10 years. But it may not protect against all forms of dengue.
The experience on Koh Maprao provides an alternative way of managing the disease, by improving community health care.
Koh Maprao, home to about 800 people, has nine volunteers who work with the local Imam, island authorities and school headmasters to prevent the development of all diseases, dengue included.
On Phuket, where spraying to reduce populations of mosquitos is standard procedure to control numbers, the incidence of dengue is rising.
It's the same throughout Thailand, especially in more urban central provinces, with thought-provoking exceptions such as Koh Maprao.
In other moves designed to combat dengue, conference delegates heard of the formation of an umbrella group committee covering both South-East Asia and the Western Pacific.
Health officials from Singapore and Thailand also agreed to meet regularly to discuss control and prevention.
Vietnam, the conference heard, had come up with a low-cost control method by encouraging the natural predators of the mosquito along waterways.
The best method of controlling dengue was more simply explained: kill, kill, kill those immature mosquito larvae.
Phuket Set To Lead World on Dengue Fever
Phuket leads the world in one aspect of the killer disease that islanders whisper about at parties, Dengue Fever. It's time to start talking more loudly about Dengue, and to celebrate Koh Maprao, too.
Phuket Set To Lead World on Dengue Fever
Phuket Dengue: Vaccine Coming, Experts Report
The painful, potentially deadly and expanding disease of dengue fever may be controlled by a vaccine in Thailand if testing works, a large international conference on Phuket is told.
Phuket Dengue: Vaccine Coming, Experts Report
