The government has questioned the cause of death of a Thai man who was initially diagnosed with Covid-19.
The man, 35, is the subject of a Public Health Ministry probe as information on his symptoms contradicts evidence revealed by a specialist.
The man died of multi-organ failure on Saturday night although doctors had detected no coronavirus in his body since Feb 16, Disease Control Department chief Suwannachai Wattanayingcharoenchai said on Sunday.
He was among 42 people who were found to have contracted coronavirus following the viral outbreak in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December.
The man had been first treated for dengue fever at a private hospital in late January before being transferred to the Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Institute in Nonthaburi province because he had also contracted the Covid-19 virus, Dr Suwannachai said.
"His lungs had already deteriorated and other internal organs also worked too hard," the department chief said, referring to his condition before his death.
"We do not know exactly whether they [his symptoms] are [directly] related to Covid-19."
The death is being investigated by experts under the national committee on communicable diseases, Dr Suwannachai said.
However, his explanation contradicts information from Thiravat Hemachudha, head of King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital's Centre for Emerging Diseases.
The man had not had any other underlying diseases, Dr Thiravat posted on his Facebook page on Sunday. "His two lungs were affected by pneumonia, which shows he caught Covid-19 from the beginning, not dengue fever.
"I think the Public Health Ministry probably made some inaccurate assessment of the patient's conditions and diseases," he wrote.
A lab result found "he had dengue fever without detecting dengue virus". This led to a nurse at the hospital also contracting Covid-19 and subsequently suffering severe pneumonia, according to the post.
She has recovered, but the disease has severely damaged her lungs, Dr Thiravat said.
The man worked for a company which sells products at a duty-free shop run by King Power.
Since he tested positive for the new coronavirus, other employees went through medical checks and the outlet was cleaned and has been closed due to a sharp drop in shoppers, King Power said on Sunday.
