Health clinics and hospitals nationwide have reported a spike in numbers of people seeking medical attention for digestive tract illnesses and allergic reactions to foods following the Mid-Autumn Festival.
A doctor said these complaints were mostly caused by improper cooking and overindulgence at barbecue parties.
Some hospitals also reported a big increase in the number of of patients seeking medical advice and treatment for weight reduction.
During the four-day holiday, street-sides and public parks were packed with friends and family gatherings for barbecuing and consuming mooncake treats. Some people even held barbecue parties for four consecutive evenings.
Taoyuan General Hospital doctor Chen Ching-yi (陳憬儀) said mooncake and barbecued meat are both high in calories, and people who do not usually eat a lot of these foods will find they cannot handle much.
Combined with improper handling and bad hygiene, people can easily suffer acute gastroenteritis, Chen said.
“At the Taoyuan General Hospital in the past few days, we have been seeing an average of 50 patients a day with stomachaches, vomiting, diarrhea and other digestive tract illness symptoms. This is a 30 percent increase over the normal period,” he added. “We also had quite a few patients with allergic reactions, who had eaten too many shrimps, crabs and seafood.”
Chen said that the majority of patients who came to hospital reported stomachaches soon after eating at barbecue parties. Then they began to throw up and had diarrhea.
“Many barbecues took place on or next to the street and it was easy for dust and fuel exhaust from passing cars and motorcycles to contaminate the food,” he said.
“Also rain and wet food are conducive to bacteria and microorganisms flourishing. Another factor is due to poor lighting, with some people consuming food that was not fully cooked,” Chen added.
Chen advised people to skip a few meals to empty out their stomach, while drinking plenty of water or drinks with electrolytes, and the symptoms should go away within one or two days.
“However, if diarrhoea is persistent, go to a hospital because the body will be dehydrated and the mouth and throat still dry, despite drinking water, and people may even have chest pains,” he said.
Chen said that to avoid getting gastroenteritis, people should eat in moderation.
“Most barbecue sauces have a high level of sodium. Consuming too much of it is a heavy burden on the heart and kidneys. In some cases, it can lead to hypertension and stroke,” the doctor said.
In terms of weight gain, one hospital reported patients had gained 2kg on average after the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday.
Lin Sung-kai (林頌凱), head of the Weight Control Center at the Landseed Hospital (壢新醫院) in Taoyuan County, said to lose that weight, a person would have to run 616 laps around the average 400m track found in most schools.
“Mooncakes and barbecued meat with sauce are all high-energy food. The same goes for pomelos. Eating one pomelo and one egg-yolk tart is equivalent to the calories in one bowl of rice. One bottle of 250ml barbecue sauce is equivalent to about two bowls of rice,” Lin said.
When people overindulge at barbecue parties, they will inevitably gain weight and need to be prescribed a strict regimen of dieting and physical exercise to lose weight, he added.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard