Disease from Thailand: Doctor explains how tourists can bring illness to Russia | Healthy Living | Health

Tourists in Thailand are complaining en masse about an unknown illness caused by a strange virus. This was reported by the Telegram channel SHOT. The affected individuals speak of severe cough, high fever, and weakness. The illness lasts for a long time, from three weeks to one month. Thai doctors have not yet determined the cause of the ailment. Medical professionals suspect diagnoses ranging from the flu and whooping cough to a previously unknown virus.

Unusual Acute Respiratory Viral Infection

“There is no basis for saying that this is a new virus,” shared professor of the School of Systems Biology at George Mason University Ancha Baranova with aif.ru. “I think this is something that has always been. It’s just that due to the tropical climate and high humidity in Thailand, even common acute respiratory illnesses can present unusually persistently there. For example, as a result of fungal or bacterial infection. In addition, acclimatization plays a role. In Russia, it is currently the winter season, and adaptation to a warmer climate requires a strain on the immune system, which can lead to serious lung complications even with a common acute respiratory viral infection. And if these are tourists who have recently returned home, then the repeated major climatic change can also make them more susceptible to common illnesses.”

Flu or Whooping Cough?

The biologist speculated that, judging by the duration of the illness, the causative agent is more likely to be a bacteria, not a virus. “It doesn’t look like the flu. There is a high probability that it is some kind of combined infection, maybe not the same for everyone,” notes the expert.

Doctors are also discussing the possibility of whooping cough. This is an extremely contagious bacterial disease that affects the mucous membranes of the upper respiratory tract.

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“Yes, it could be whooping cough,” says the biologist. “Simply because whooping cough is accompanied by a 2-3 month cough that occurs after people have already passed the acute phase. Antibiotics are useless at that point. The ‘stuck’ cough could indicate that whooping cough had occurred earlier. But of course, without tests, nothing specific can be said about this.”