The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported 469 new domestic cases of dengue fever from last week, the highest weekly number this year, and the first cases this year in Taipei, Hsinchu City and Changhua County.
CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said 469 new domestic dengue cases were reported last week — 390 in Tainan, 40 in Yunlin County, 19 in Kaohsiung, 16 in Pingtung County, and one case each in Taipei, Taichung and Changhua County.
A total of 1,579 local cases have been reported this year, the highest case number in the same period in 10 years, he said, adding that so far locally acquired cases have been reported in 11 cities and counties.
Photo: CNA
Guo said because many areas were affected by heavy rainfall last week, the number of mosquitoes is increasing in many cities and counties, and in Tainan, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Pingtung County, where clustered local infections have been identified, the risk of dengue infection is still growing.
Dengue fever virus serotype 1 and serotype 2 have both been detected in local communities, and especially elderly people and those at higher risk of developing severe illness should watch for signs of severe complications and bleeding, he said.
CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said a case of severe dengue was confirmed last week in a woman in her 80s with hypertension and diabetes in Yunlin County. She was hospitalized for altered consciousness and dizziness earlier this month.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
The woman had a low blood platelet count and tested positive for dengue fever, but her pneumonia worsened, so she was intubated and admitted to an intensive care unit due to breathing difficulties, Lin said.
Ten cases of severe dengue fever have been confirmed this year — eight people in Yunlin County and two in Tainan aged between 60 and 90 — he said, adding that there was also one death.
Meanwhile, Guo said the average number of hospitalized local COVID-19 cases last week was 60 per day, which was 19 percent lower than the daily average of 74 the previous week, adding that 78 percent of them are people aged 65 or older.
Of the 17,969 hospitalized domestic COVID-19 cases reported since May, about half (8,923 people) did not receive a vaccine booster and 71 percent (6,308 people) were unvaccinated, he said.
Guo said that genomic surveillance data from the past four weeks showed that 92 percent of local cases were caused by Omicron subvariant XBB, including 12 percent with EG.5 (a descendent lineage of XBB.1.9.2); while 98 percent of imported cases involved XBB, including 30 percent with EG.5.
CDC Deputy Director-General and spokesperson Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑慧) said EG.5 was first reported in February and designated as a variant that requires monitoring last month.
The WHO designated EG.5 as a variant of interest on Wednesday last week, but it also said that the public health risk posed by EG.5 is evaluated as low at the global level and there has been a steady increase in the proportion of EG.5 cases reported globally, she said.
EG.5 has increased prevalence, growth advantage and immune escape properties, but there have been no reported changes in disease severity to date, Tseng said.
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