Infuenza, haemorrhagic dengue fever and Covid-19 have been the most widespread infectious diseases in Thailand this year, according to the Department of Disease Control.
Dr Thongchai Keeratihattayakorn, acting director-general of the department, said that from Jan 1 to Dec 16, there were 460,325 influenza patients, 29 of whom died. The biggest group of patients was in the age range of 5-14 years.
He said that the number of influenza patients naturally rose when people became more lenient in their protection against Covid-19.
For haemorrhagic dengue fever, there were 147,412 patients from Jan 1 to Dec 13. The number was 3.4 times higher than last year's figure.
The 174 dengue fatalities were spread across 54 provinces and most fatalities were 25-34 years old and had underlying illnesses including obesity.
Dr Thongchai said that haemorrhagic dengue fever normally spread when the country faced the El Nino weather phenomenon and outbreak would last for two years at a time. This year was the first.
From Jan 1 to Dec 23, 37,863 people were admitted to hospitals for Covid-19. Of them, 845 died and 114 suffered lung inflammation.
The disease spread continuously from last year and cases peaked from April to July. However, the number of cases and the seriousness of symptoms were lower than a few years ago, Dr Thongchai said.
