The Center for Disease Control yesterday said that a recent outbreak of meningococcal meningitis was now under control, although one further suspected case was reported yesterday.
According to a statement from the disease control center, the 24 soldiers thought on Tuesday to have possibly contracted the infection all tested negative for the disease. No more cases have been discovered at Chengkungling (成功嶺) army base or at the Armed Forces Taichung General Hospital, the center said.
However, a spokesman for the army base said that about 580 soldiers of the 3rd battalion under the 200th Motorized Infantry Brigade were ordered to remain in their barracks for 10 days simply as a precautionary measure.
A soldier from the Chengkungling base died last week from the disease and the 24 sick soldiers were all thought to have had close contact with him.
"The test results indicated that the 24 soldiers are not infected with the disease, but they are being kept in hospital for further observation," said Yen Che-chieh (顏哲傑), an official from the center.
Later yesterday, however, another suspected case was discovered in Nantou County. Yen said that the center had reacted immediately after it was informed of the case.
"We are investigating the case and are prescribing medication to people who have been in contact with the patient," Yen said.
The patient, Wang Jen-chieh (
Meanwhile, Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (
In his statement, the premier called upon the Department of Health to ascertain the reasons for the increase in the number of cases of the disease, to monitor patients and to work on controlling the disease.
He also asked the Ministry of National Defense to prescribe the drug Rifampin to all of the soldiers at the Chengkungling army base, and to continue to monitor the condition of the 24 soldiers who have tested negative for the disease.
Rifampin effectively kills the bacteria that causes the disease when taken over a two-day period.
According to statistics from the Center for Disease Control, 30 people in Taiwan have been infected by meningococcal meningitis this year, twice as many as last year.
Dr Lee Ching-yuan (李慶雲), a pediatric doctor at National Taiwan University Hospital, said that he had diagnosed more cases in the first five months of this year than in each of the past two years.
High rates of meningococcal meningitis were recorded between 1919 and 1926 and 1933 to 1946 when up to 300 cases were recorded each year. Lee emphasized that the disease should not spread so easily nowadays given the advances in medical technology.
"With a better quality environment and medical technology, the disease should not infect as many patients as it did," Lee said.
However, King Chwan-chuen (金傳春), an epidemiologist from the medical school at National Taiwan University, suggested several possible reasons that could explain why infectious diseases in general are reported to be on the rise on a global scale.
"First of all, Taiwanese have more communication with China, Hong Kong and southeast Asian countries, giving bacteria from those countries greater opportunities to spread," Jin said.
Second, infectious diseases are becoming globalized. West Nile Virus, for example, never appeared in New York City until a couple of years ago. On the other hand, global warming and increasing numbers of organ transplants are also among other possible reasons, Jin added.
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