The public health office in Suratthani has listed Koh Phangan as number one of the various districts in the province with confirmed swine-flu infections in terms of ratio. Provincial public health chief Dr. Nattawuth Prasertsiriphong said that as of Sept. 21, the island had eight people confirmed infected. The ratio they use, he said, is number of infected people per 100,000 population.

Based on this ratio, according to him, Koh Phangan is number one, followed by Donsak, Downtown, Vinag-sra and Kiriratnikom districts.

The swine-flu epidemic first reached Koh Phangan last month with six people confirmed infected.

Dr. Nattawuth attributed the high rate of infection on Koh Phangan to the presence of many foreign tourists on the island and the lack of preventive measures in place.

He said most of those infected on the island belong to the 10-14 years old age group. They comprise 31.96 percent of all H1N1 patients. They are followed by those in the 15-24 years old bracket at17.07 percent.

Although there is less media attention now on swine flu, Dr. Nattawuth asks people in the province not to lower their guard against the disease. -- CA