The number of confirmed dengue fever cases in Tainan has escalated to more than 3,000 in the past four months, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday.
Tainan accounts for 3,003 of the 3,446 dengue infections reported nationwide since May 1, it said.
In a 24-hour period over the weekend, the number of cases in Tainan jumped by 131, the CDC said, adding that all four dengue deaths in the country this year were in the southern city.
In the neighboring city of Kaohsiung, the number of dengue cases as of yesterday were 381, the second-highest nationwide, followed by the southernmost county of Pingtung with 17 cases, the CDC said.
In northern Taiwan, 11 dengue fever infections have been reported in New Taipei and one in Taipei.
The risk of death from dengue fever can be reduced to less than 1 percent if the infection is diagnosed and treated early, the CDC said.
Symptoms of the mosquito-borne disease include fever, headache, pain in the eye socket, muscle and joint pain, and skin rash, it said.
A specialist in Tainan yesterday said that more than 60 percent of patients who have contracted dengue fever this year had high temperatures that lasted for about a week, which is a longer average period than those recorded in previous dengue fever outbreaks.
Hung Yuan-pin (洪元斌), director of Tainan Hospital’s Division of Infectious Diseases, said the hospital has recently been receiving 20 to 40 dengue fever inpatients each day.
Still more patients have sought outpatient care or emergency help, he said.
“[Their] fever lasts a very long time this year. It used to take only two to three days for the temperature to go down, but this time, it is lasting for seven days,” Hung said, adding that he fears the outbreak this summer is more severe than in the past.
Along with National Cheng Kung University Hospital, Tainan Hospital under the Ministry of Health is the major medical institution providing treatment to dengue fever patients in the southern municipality.
Health officials reminded people to keep their homes free of standing water and to make efforts to avoid mosquito bites.
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