The number of dengue fever cases in Tainan since the start of summer has recorded a daily increase of 523, bringing the total to 10,157, a record high for the southern municipality, the Tainan City Government’s Department of Health said yesterday.
Tainan is by far the worst-hit area in the nation, with only two of the city’s 37 districts remaining free of the mosquito-borne disease. Its southern neighbor, Kaohsiung, has 1,277 registered cases.
In an effort to improve disease control, the Central Epidemic Command Center has designated four hospitals in southern Taiwan — Tainan Hospital, Tainan Municipal Hospital, Tainan Municipal An-Nan Hospital and the Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital’s Tainan Branch — to lead dengue fever prevention efforts by focusing on patients exhibiting early symptoms.
The hospitals are encouraged to recruit retired medical personnel or those with other specialties to help fight the disease.
A total of 11,623 cases of dengue fever have been confirmed nationwide, an increase of 617 cases since Thursday.
The Centers for Disease Control said that 41 patients are in intensive care units, while 25 people have succumbed to the disease so far.
After Tainan and Kaohsiung, Taichung leads the other municipalities with 26 cases, followed by Taoyuan with 22 and Taipei and New Taipei City with 18 each, while Hsinchu City has 10, Chiayi City seven and Keelung two cases.
Pingtung County has 43 registered cases, followed by Chiayi (10), Hsinchu (nine), Changhua (seven) and Yunlin (four) counties, with Miaoli, Nantou, Yilan and Hualien counties each having two cases. Taitun County has one registered case.
In the outlying islands, Penghu and Kinmen have two cases each.
Last year, Taiwan reported 15,732 cases of dengue fever, the highest annual number since authorities began keeping records.
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