Faced with an avalanche of inquiries into the cause of military school student Yen Ming-cheng's (
According to the center, the endemic illness is caused by a bacterium called Burkholderia pseudomalle, which is most commonly found in Southeast Asia and northern Australia. People acquire the infection by inhalation of infected dust, ingestion of affected water and contact with contaminated soil through skin abrasions. Person-to-person transmission rarely occurs.
"Despite the disease not being common in Taiwan and its initial mild symptoms, the bacteria could invade a person's bloodstream and deteriorate organs. Once it develops into acute bloodstream infection and chronic supperative infection, it could be fatal," Chiu Chan-hsien (
In the last four years in Taiwan, three people died among the 36 reported cases of melioidosis.
Among the 57 suspected reported cases of melioidosis, nine patients hail from Kaohsiung County, where the tropical climate aids the breeding of bacteria.
Because of the disease's wide spectrum of clinical symptoms and its prolonged incubation period, ranging from two days to 25 years, the chance of early identification is fairly low.
Also, since melioidosis is diagnosed by isolating Burkholderia pseudomalle from blood, saliva or skin lesions in a laboratory, doctors can hardly yield accurate diagnoses on the spot.
In Yen's case, health professionals failed to detect the disease in time. On July 21, the Kaohsiung Armed Forces General Hospital reported Yen's ailment to the health bureau as Q fever. Two days later, the 19-year-old student was transferred to the Kaohsiung Medical College Hospital, which reported a host of possible diseases to the center. On July 24, when local health officials arrived at Yen's home to collect tissue samples from the patient, he had already succumbed to the illness.
"Although there is no delay in our reporting system, our staff and hospital workers are not alert enough to identify infectious diseases. We need to reinforce our staff training and raise public awareness of any new threat," said the center's deputy director-general, Shih Wen-yi (施文儀).
"There is no vaccine for melioidosis so far. If it is discovered early, we can prescribe antibiotics and predict any long-term sequellae," said Chang Shan-chwen (張上淳), chief of National Taiwan University's infectious disease section.
The center said that the other 23 student patients were not infected by the bacteria. They have recovered from fevers and respiratory discomforts. Five students were discharged from hospital last weekend and are now under medical surveillance. To further verify the cause of the students' illness, the center will draw blood samples after two weeks.
"Yen is an isolated case. Other students are on the mend," the school's army officer, Fan Yu-chuan (范玉全), told the Taipei Times. "Our exercises do not expose students to the bacteria. Our students wear long-sleeved shirts, long pants and boots when they practice fieldwork. Even if they have wounds, they are well protected from possibly contaminated soil."
Farmers who work in paddies barefoot and patients with weakened immune systems or wounds are vulnerable to the disease. With no effective preventive measures, the center called for the public to properly clean any wounds and avoid contact with contaminated water and soil.
CHAOS: Iranians took to the streets playing celebratory music after reports of Khamenei’s death on Saturday, while mourners also gathered in Tehran yesterday Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a major attack on Iran launched by Israel and the US, throwing the future of the Islamic republic into doubt and raising the risk of regional instability. Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency announced the 86-year-old’s death early yesterday. US President Donald Trump said it gave Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back” their country. The announcements came after a joint US and Israeli aerial bombardment that targeted Iranian military and governmental sites. Trump said the “heavy and pinpoint bombing” would continue through the week or as long
TRUST: The KMT said it respected the US’ timing and considerations, and hoped it would continue to honor its commitments to helping Taiwan bolster its defenses and deterrence US President Donald Trump is delaying a multibillion-dollar arms sale to Taiwan to ensure his visit to Beijing is successful, a New York Times report said. The weapons sales package has stalled in the US Department of State, the report said, citing US officials it did not identify. The White House has told agencies not to push forward ahead of Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), it said. The two last month held a phone call to discuss trade and geopolitical flashpoints ahead of the summit. Xi raised the Taiwan issue and urged the US to handle arms sales to
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday said that it had confirmed on Saturday night with its liquefied natural gas (LNG) and crude oil suppliers that shipments are proceeding as scheduled and that domestic supplies remain unaffected. The CPC yesterday announced the gasoline and diesel prices will rise by NT$0.2 and NT$0.4 per liter, respectively, starting Monday, citing Middle East tensions and blizzards in the eastern United States. CPC also iterated it has been reducing the proportion of crude oil imports from the Middle East and diversifying its supply sources in the past few years in response to geopolitical risks, expanding
OTHER OPTIONS: Given possible US intervention and Taiwanese counterattacks, China might opt to blockade Taiwan or take its outlying islands instead of an all-out invasion A US think tank has urged Taiwan to adopt a “hellscape” strategy that would flood the Taiwan Strait with drones and other uncrewed systems to deter invasion by China. In its report, Hellscape for Taiwan, published on Thursday, the Center for a New American Security said Taipei’s asymmetric defense approach — often described as a “porcupine strategy” — needs to evolve to keep pace with the growing capabilities of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. The “hellscape” strategy involves saturating the air and waters around Taiwan with thousands of drones and other platforms capable of striking invading forces from multiple domains at once. Long-range
RSS