A six-month-old boy yesterday became the nation’s youngest patient to be hospitalized with influenza A(H1N1) after testing positive for the flu virus.
The infant was the third person under one year of age to be hospitalized with the A(H1N1) virus since the outbreak began earlier this year, and the youngest of the three, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said.
Epidemic prevention authorities reported yesterday that five more patients had been hospitalized with the A(H1N1) virus as the new flu strain continued to spread throughout the country.
The newly hospitalized patients included four males and one female, aged six months to 49, said the CECC, adding that these cases brought the total number of A(H1N1) hospitalized patients to 292 since the outbreak began.
Seventeen of these patients have died, while 239 have recovered and 36 remain in the hospital, the CECC said.
As of yesterday, 330 classes in 209 schools around the country were still suspended because of A(H1N1) infections among students. The number of affected classes accounts for 0.22 percent of the total, the CECC said.
Meanwhile, the Department of Health (DOH) announced yesterday that a total of 2.99 million flu vaccine doses would be available starting on Oct. 1 and another 15 million A(H1N1) influenza vaccine doses would come onto the market sometime in November.
Immunization against the new flu strain is expected to begin late next month, with healthcare workers, pregnant women and children between six months and six years of age chosen as priority recipients.
Centers for Disease Control Director-General Steve Kuo (郭旭崧) yesterday said that National Taiwan University Hospital, Tri-service General Hospital and Taipei Medical University-Wan Fang Hospital have completed the first round of human clinical trials on 300 adults for locally produced swine flu vaccine by Adimmune Corp (國光生技).
The result of the trails will be available in approximately three weeks.
In addition to 10 million doses of vaccine to be supplied by Adimmune, the DOH has purchased another 5 million doses from the Swiss-based pharmaceutical firm Novartis.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it