The number of reported cases of diarrhea reached an annual high last week with more than 143,000 outpatient and emergency room visits, including 21 clusters of cases, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, urging people to practice good personal hygiene.
CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said among the 21 clusters of cases affecting 147 people reported last week, 15, or 71 percent, were reported at schools, while eight of nine cluster cases examined were caused by a norovirus infection.
“Among the 74 cluster cases reported so far this year, 62 clusters, or 84 percent, were caused by a norovirus infection,” he said, adding that 39 clusters were in schools, mainly elementary schools or preschools.
Lo said the majority of cluster cases were caused by the GII.2 norovirus, which was first discovered in the nation in September last year.
As many Taiwanese have not developed immunity against it, adults and children should maintain good personal hygiene to prevent infection, Lo said.
The CDC said norovirus infections are highly contagious and often transmitted via the fecal-oral route, so a person can be infected by having contact with someone who is infected with norovirus, or touching objects or food contaminated with norovirus and then putting their fingers in their mouth.
The CDC urged people to wash their hands thoroughly after using the toilet, and before preparing food or eating, and to keep all food in a clean environment.
Food should be handled safely and hygienically, to prevent viruses from spreading, it said.
People who are suffering from nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, fever and other related symptoms should get plenty of rest, drink plenty of water and increase their intake of nutrients while avoiding food high in fat or sugar, the CDC said.
They should not return to work or school until 48 hours after the symptoms abate, it said.
FLU SEASON: Twenty-six severe cases were reported from Tuesday last week to Monday, including a seven-year-old girl diagnosed with influenza-associated encephalopathy Nearly 140,000 people sought medical assistance for diarrhea last week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said on Tuesday. From April 7 to Saturday last week, 139,848 people sought medical help for diarrhea-related illness, a 15.7 percent increase from last week’s 120,868 reports, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said. The number of people who reported diarrhea-related illness last week was the fourth highest in the same time period over the past decade, Lee said. Over the past four weeks, 203 mass illness cases had been reported, nearly four times higher than the 54 cases documented in the same period
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