A postnatal center in Hsinchu has been temporarily shuttered after more than half of the infants at the facility suffered respiratory infections.
The mass infection occurred at Hui-Sheng Postnatal Center's Wenyi branch, with 17 of the 25 babies displaying symptoms such as runny noses, fever and coughing. Four of the babies were hospitalized. Hsinchu County's public health bureau was not notified of the incident until Tuesday.
The center was closed for cleaning and disinfection.
Virus culture tests conducted by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) showed that the infection was caused by the human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), CDC deputy chief Shih Wen-yi (
Although RSV is not considered a particularly dangerous disease and incidents do not normally need to be reported to the CDC, all cases of mass infections in institutions where people live in close proximity to each other have to be reported as soon as possible, Shih said.
"More than a dozen babies did not become sick overnight," Shih said. "If the mass infection had been reported earlier, perhaps not so many babies would have been infected."
"In any institution with a high population density, incidents in which more than three people had shown signs of a communicable disease over three days have to be reported," he said.
Shih said the younger the individual, the more seriously they are affected by RSV.
In the case of the Hsinchu mass infection, adult caretakers who had spread the disease probably did not display any symptoms themselves, Shih said.
Taiwan has a number of postnatal centers, where women stay for a month to recuperate after giving birth in line with the traditional concept of "sitting out the month."
Typical rates for postnatal centers -- some of which are fitted for luxury living -- run from NT$4,000 to NT$5,000 a day.
"It's a traditional rather than a medical concept," said Hsieh Ching-hung (謝卿宏), secretary-general of the Taiwan Association of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Hsieh said he neither encourages nor dissuades his patients from observing the practice. However, more rest is always beneficial for new mothers.
"There is some evidence that Asian women suffer from less pelvic stress than Western women, which could be because they rest more," Hsieh said. "This in turn makes it less likely that they will suffer long-term effects from giving birth, such as loss of bladder control and urinary tract infection."
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
RSS