Thai snack wrapping paper turns out to be hospital medical record of patient with Hepatitis B

Thai snack packaging turns out to be hospital medical record

The photo of a wrapping paper for a Thai snack has recently captured the attention of netizens online. The photo, which was shared on a Thai Facebook page, reveals that the wrapping paper used for the snack was a hospital medical record containing the private information of a patient with hepatitis .

The post shocked many netizens, with many questioning how the hospital record ended up being used for wrapping food, while some expressed worries about getting infected with the disease.

The Department of Science Service Director General Rungrueng Kitpati said that the disease cannot be spread via food.

Thai snack wrapped in medical record

On 12 May, Thai online personality and medical scientist, หมอแลบแพนด้า, shared a picture of a well-known Thai snack — Khanom Tokyo — wrapped in a paper that looks to be a medical sheet containing information about a hospital patient.

Further inspection of the photo shows that the patient in the medical record is Hepatitis B positive.

Hepatitis B is an infectious disease that affects the liver and does not have any cure.

“My follower told me that Khanom Tokyo was wrapped in an ODP card [hospital medical record] from a hospital in Ubon Ratchathani. The details revealed a male patient with hepatitis B. Should I continue eating it or throw it away?” the OP wrote in the post’s caption.

Netizens express shock over leaked personal info

Many netizens were shocked by the breach of privacy as hospital records are supposed to be private and confidential, while others were concerned about hygiene.

One Facebook user said that the post gave her nausea.

Another commenter wondered how the patient’s confidential record came out of the hospital.

“This is so nasty. OPD cards from a hospital are full of germs,” one netizen said in Thai.

Others asserted that stall vendors should stop using used paper to wrap food items in order to save costs.

Doctor says hepatitis B isn’t contagious through food

In response to the viral post, the Department of Science Service Director General Rungrueng Kitpati explained that hepatitis B cannot be transmitted through hospital records like the OPD card or food and that it can only be transmitted through blood and body fluids, according to Matichon.

However, he added that using OPD cards for wrapping up food is not hygienic and is against Thailand’s Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA).

The PDPA states that hospitals must store patients’ personal information securely and prevent it from being leaked to the public.

Also read: M’sia Stall Vendor Uses Roadside Tap Water To Replenish Drinks, Called Out For Unhygienic Practice

M’sia Stall Vendor Uses Roadside Tap Water To Replenish Drinks, Called Out For Unhygienic Practice

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Featured image adapted from หมอแลบแพนด้า on Facebook and MThai.