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BANGKOK, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- Thailand's Public Health Ministry expects a new round of A/H1N1 flu epidemic to hit the country, with more than 15 million Thais at risk of contracting the virus, Thai media reported Tuesday.

The second wave, however, is expected to be less severe than the first round that the country suffered since late April, the ministry's permanent secretary Dr. Paijit Warachit was quoted by The Nation online saying, adding that the strengths and weaknesses of the virus have been known, and the health agencies have been more experienced in dealing with it.

The ministry Monday unveiled its estimation that more than 15 million people, including pre-schoolers, could get infected by this flu virus strain during the second round of pandemic, becausemost people have stopped taking preventive measures against the virus.

According to Bangkok Post online, Tawee Chotpitayasunond, a pediatrician with the Queen Sirikit National Institute of Child Health, told a meeting of the national committee on the pandemic influenza on Monday that pre-schoolers aged up to five are expected to be hardest hit by the virus if the second wave comes up.

According to the ministry's surveillance, conducted from April 28 to Oct. 24, the flu virus has already killed 182 people between the ages of 31 and 40, of whom 90 were men and 92 women. An estimated 6 million people contracted the virus during the peak period of the first wave which ran from April to September.

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