Sanitary Precaution delays the meeting of Thai cave boys with their parents | New

Even after completing the dark and dangerous journey from the depths of Tham Luang Cave to safety, the saved members of the Wild Boars football team face additional obstacles to resume their normal lives.

Before the boys can kiss "Thongchai Lertwilairattanapong, an official in the Thai health department, told local news site Kom Chad Luek that there would be no "No hug or touch" before the blood tests prove that the boys were free of infections. He named leptospirosis and melodosis – bacterial infections transmitted by soil or water – as possible risks.

Hugh Montgomery, a professor of intensive medicine at University College London, said the caves presented a risk of recurrent fever transmitted by ticks. as well as histoplasmosis, a fungal lung infection commonly referred to as "cavern disease".

The policy of separation between boys and their loved ones marks a break with the initial plan described in the Guardian by a member of the mental health crisis badessment and treatment team at the emergency site , who had to organize at least one parent to accompany each boy in an ambulance on the way to Prachanukroh Hospital in Chiang Rai.

Dr. Andrea Danese, a child psychiatrist at the London Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, said that the presence of a parent in these first moments of freedom would be an important first step towards a healthy reintegration.

"After a long time underground, the boys will be tired, maybe slightly confused – almost as if they were falling behind – and probably very emotional," he said. "Reuniting them with a parent will certainly be a positive experience."

These comforts will have to be delayed, despite the fact that none of the infections mentioned by the doctors is transmissible between people. At a press briefing on Monday night, Narongsak Osatanakorn, the head of the joint command center coordinating the operation, declined to tell reporters if any of the boys had been reunited with their loved ones.

was a strict policy against the release of the names of boys who came out of the cave. Instead, they were all designated as "boar" and badigned a number. On Monday morning, Osatanakorn reprimanded a Thai newspaper for publishing the names of the first four boys

"It's doctor-patient confidentiality, so we could not name them," he said at the time. a press point. "Some of you have revealed it. What you need to understand, is that it affects the parents of those who are still inside."

Banyong Suwanpong, member of the Ethics Committee of the Thai Journalist Association, wrote in a Facebook post: "Using a code instead of naming them is to protect the rights of children and to avoid ethical problems especially when society closely monitors the press. "

Politics is unusual for a story of global interest, especially since the names of the trapped persons are already known. However, this is common in Thailand, where the media is traditionally very attentive to the identity of children. In cases involving crimes involving children, especially when they are the victims, names are often omitted.

In the case of wild boars, however, hiding identities goes beyond tradition. The boys who left the cave in the past two days are entering a new world where millions of people want information from them. By keeping their names secret, even temporarily, the Joint Command Center gives boys an extra layer of protection against the threat of trauma.

Dr. Thornnin Kongsuk, director of Suan Prung Hospital in Chiang Mai, where boys will be receiving exams in the months following their cave rescue, said he was supporting the policy. "Stop interviewing them and remind them of this event in their lives," he told Kom Chad Luek. "If boys and coaches are trapped in a cave to test their courage or their adventure, it will be OK, but they [are forced to] remember it as torture, their health mental health will suffer. "