The A(H1N1) influenza virus continued to spread yesterday, with eight new cases requiring hospitalization, including an eight-month-old boy and a 73-year-old man, the youngest and oldest swine flu inpatients to date.
“There is no way to completely block the disease from spreading. What we aim to do is to reduce the extent of the spread and prevent a full-blown epidemic,” Department of Health Deputy Minister Chang Shan-chwen (張上淳) said at a press conference.
As of yesterday, the A(H1N1) virus had caused the hospitalization of 95 people and taken five lives.
Around 17 percent of all emergency room patients seeking medical attention complain of flu-like symptoms, compared with 12 percent a week ago, Centers for Disease Control statistics show.
“We expected the illness to reach babies younger than 12 months old,” said Lee Ping-ing (李秉穎), an associate professor of pediatrics at National Taiwan University Hospital, adding that because babies that young don’t travel outside their homes as often as adults, it was likely the virus was carried into the child’s home by an adult.
While babies six months or younger are protected by antibodies inherited from their mothers, “it has been observed that some people under 50 do not have antibodies against A(H1N1), meaning that if a baby’s mother does not have the antibody, the baby would not have the antibody either,” Lee said.
It is important that mothers take stringent hygienic management measures to prevent their children from falling ill, Lee said.
Lee said the key to avoiding the virus was to clean one’s hands, eyes, nose and mouth.
Symptoms of the flu also differ in very young children, Lee said.
“Whereas adults with severe flu have symptoms such as fever, difficulty breathing, chest pain or unconsciousness, attention should be paid to babies who do not play, eat or sleep as normal,” Lee said.
While vaccinations have been shown to shorten the duration of the illness, it is difficult to say whether it will help prevent patients from developing more severe symptoms, he said.
“We should not mislead people into believing that Tamiflu is a magic cure for swine flu,” Chang said.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education is scheduled to hold a meeting tomorrow with university deans of student affairs to discuss how colleges and universities can help prevent infections when the new year begins later this month.
Ho Cho-fei (何卓飛), director-general of the ministry’s Department of Higher Education, said it would be very difficult to apply the ministry’s “325” class suspension policy to universities because students were free to choose their own classes and university campuses were open to non-students. The “325” system requires that if two students in the same class are infected within two days, the class should be closed for five days.
Ho said the ministry would announce a standard for class suspension for colleges and universities after the meeting.
National Taiwan University secretary-general Sebastian Liao (廖咸浩) said that the school would oblige students who are diagnosed with the flu to stay home.
“If a teacher has close contact with more than two confirmed cases, he or she will also need to stay home,” Liao said.
If dormitory residents were confirmed to have contracted flu, the students would be required to stay in the dormitory while school administrators bring food to them, Liao said, adding that school medical personnel would check on them twice a day.
National Taiwan University of Science and Technology said it would install infrared scanners at school entrances and was considering shutting some of the school’s gates.
Meanwhile, Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) appointed Vice Premier Paul Chiu (邱正雄) on Tuesday as commander-in-chief in coordinating departments to deal with any escalation in the current (A)H1N1 pandemic situation.
Amid the backdrop of a coming Cabinet reshuffle, the appointment of Chiu was seen as a sign Liu hopes to keep Chiu, who he relies on heavily for economic advice, as his deputy.
Chiu was in charge of the much-criticized response center for the relief work after Typhoon Morakot.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SHIH HSIU-CHUAN
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or