1. Mahidol-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit, Faculty of Tropical Medicine,
   Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
2. Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nuffield Department of Medicine,
   University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
3. Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
4. The Royal Society of Thailand, Dusit, Bangkok, Thailand

Correspondence to Weerapong Phumratanaprapin (MD),
Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, 420/6 Rajvithi Road, Ratchathewi, Bangkok, 10400, Thailand. Email: weerapong.phu@mahidol.ac.th

Abstract

Newspapers have a responsibility to report the truth to their readers, and the trustworthiness of the print media remains crucial in our age of decentralized, social media and online commentary. Honest reporting of the evidence and the uncertainties around health claims are especially important as there may be serious consequences if incorrect information is disseminated. Letters to the Editor can fall into a grey area where the responsibility for statements are unclear.

Recently there have been examples of misleading claims printed in letters appearing in many local and English language newspapers in many countries. One letter to a newspaper in Thailand made incorrect statements about vaccine safety which, if believed, could potentially discourage infant vaccination and thereby place children at risk of preventable infectious diseases. Another letter contradicted Thailand’s national policy for malaria treatment with artemisinin combination therapies and advocated instead the use of unlicensed, unproven herbal remedies, which if followed could result in the mismanagement of a potentially fatal disease. Both articles risked causing harm and should not have been printed without qualification.

Improved editorial guidelines may help avoid such oversights in future. Such guidelines might include additional steps prior to publication to verify and fact-check health claims, the adoption of a risk-based approach before deciding whether the public interest is best served by publication, and consultation with relevant medical experts. The public deserve to read a range of opinions from readers, including on health matters, but there is an editorial responsibility to ensure in as far as is reasonable, that such claims are evidence-based, appropriately referenced, and accountable.

Keywords: Ethics, evidence-based medicine, malaria, media, Thailand, vaccination

Download

1. Department of Tropical Medicine, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
2. Royal Society of Thailand, Dusit, Bangkok 10300 Thailand
3. Mahidol-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
4. Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom

Correspondence to Sasithon Pukrittayakamee (DPhil),
Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, 420/6 Rajvithi Road, Ratchathewi, Bangkok, 10400, Thailand. Email: sasithon.puk@mahidol.ac.th, sasithon@tropmed.ac

Abstract

Epidemics of infectious diseases have threatened humans throughout our history. Devastating plagues are described in records from classical Greece and Rome and across the ancient world. Many epidemic diseases that now affect humans began from infections that originated in animals. In the 21st century, we live in a world in which there have been dynamic changes to the global ecology and expanded international travel, which has resulted in increased contact between humans, and between humans and animals. The result is that the emergence and spread of new contagious infections from animal reservoirs and between human populations has become both more probable and, in some aspects, also more difficult to contain. Pandemics in the 21st century are anticipated to have chiefly viral causes, such as influenza, corona and arboviruses. Unlike bacteria, virus proteins are readily altered through antigenic drift and shift. In the case of the latter, a new viral infection may enter an entirely susceptible human population who have never been exposed before and have no effective host immunity. Moreover, existing treatments may prove ineffective, and new vaccines will need to be developed. Another reason why animal-to-human, or “zoonotic” viruses are of great concern is that these can often be efficiently transmitted through droplets, from animal to person, and also from human to human. Unlike most viruses, the influenza virus exists as a seasonal epidemic and when a new influenza virus strain appears there is the potential for it to spread rapidly and widely across international borders and around the world, that is, to become a pandemic. In this short review we reflect on a several key aspects of past pandemics, with a focus on the influenza infections. We then present an overview of recent studies conducted by the Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University to improve the treatment and prevention of influenza.

Keywords: Epidemics, Influenza, Pandemics, Mahidol, Siam,

Download