Taiwanese-American HIV/AIDS academic David Ho (何大一) is one of several overseas consultants who are helping with the treatment of the victims of a recent organ transplant scandal in which they were given HIV-infected organs, Centers for Disease Control Director-General Chang Feng-yee (張峰義) said.
“We have assembled a group of medical professionals to care for the five transplant recipients and the team members have consulted foreign experts, including Ho, on the best courses of treatment for the patients,” Chang said.
The five victims — four at National Taiwan University Hospital in Taipei and one at National Cheng Kung University Hospital in Tainan — are taking post--transplant anti-rejection drugs and post-exposure anti-viral medication, Chang said.
“All the foreign experts with whom we have consulted, including Ho, agree that the anti-viral medication that we have prescribed to the five patients will not inhibit the function of the anti-rejection medication,” Chang said, adding that the therapy the patients are receiving is the most appropriate choice of drug combinations.
The five patients received organ transplants from a brain-dead HIV-positive donor on Aug. 24 and Aug. 25 and began to take preventive anti-viral medication on Aug. 26, Chang said.
“They have to take the drug combination for three months, at which point the medical team will then assess whether the drug regimen should be continued or can be stopped,” Chang said, adding that HIV infection cannot be confirmed until six months after the end of drug therapy.
Liao Hsueh-tsung (廖學聰), director of Taipei Medical University Hospital’s AIDS therapy center, said that in 2000, a patient took post-exposure anti-viral medication for nine months after receiving an HIV-contaminated blood transfusion.
The patient tested negative six months after he ended the drug regimen, he said.
The inspection equipment and data transmission system for new robotic dogs that Taipei is planning to use for sidewalk patrols were developed by a Taiwanese company, the city’s New Construction Office said today, dismissing concerns that the China-made robots could pose a security risk. The city is bringing in smart robotic dogs to help with sidewalk inspections, Taipei Deputy Mayor Lee Ssu-chuan (李四川) said on Facebook. Equipped with a panoramic surveillance system, the robots would be able to automatically flag problems and easily navigate narrow sidewalks, making inspections faster and more accurate, Lee said. By collecting more accurate data, they would help Taipei
TAKING STOCK: The USMC is rebuilding a once-abandoned airfield in Palau to support large-scale ground operations as China’s missile range grows, Naval News reported The US Marine Corps (USMC) is considering new sites for stockpiling equipment in the West Pacific to harden military supply chains and enhance mobility across the Indo-Pacific region, US-based Naval News reported on Saturday. The proposed sites in Palau — one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — and Australia would enable a “rapid standup of stored equipment within a year” of the program’s approval, the report said, citing documents published by the USMC last month. In Palau, the service is rebuilding a formerly abandoned World War II-era airfield and establishing ancillary structures to support large-scale ground operations “as China’s missile range and magazine
A 72-year-old man in Kaohsiung was sentenced to 40 days in jail after he was found having sex with a 67-year-old woman under a slide in a public park on Sunday afternoon. At 3pm on Sunday, a mother surnamed Liang (梁) was with her child at a neighborhood park when they found the man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and woman, surnamed Huang (黃), underneath the slide. Liang took her child away from the scene, took photographs of the two and called the police, who arrived and arrested the couple. During questioning, Tsai told police that he had met Huang that day and offered to
BETTER SERVICE QUALITY: From Nov. 10, tickets with reserved seats would only be valid for the date, train and route specified on the ticket, THSRC said Starting on Nov. 10, high-speed rail passengers with reserved seats would be required to exchange their tickets to board an earlier train. Passengers with reserved seats on a specific train are currently allowed to board earlier trains on the same day and sit in non-reserved cars, but as this is happening increasingly often, and affecting quality of travel and ticket sales, Taiwan High-Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) announced that it would be canceling the policy on Nov. 10. It is one of several new measures launched by THSRC chairman Shih Che (史哲) to improve the quality of service, it said. The company also said
RSS