More than 1,000 cases of locally acquired dengue fever were reported last week, including three deaths, and 12 flu-related deaths were confirmed, as the number of hospital visits for flu-like illness and enterovirus infections continued to rise, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday.
Tainan led the list of dengue fever cases last week, accounting for 1,205 of the total of 1,319, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said.
It was followed by Kaohsiung with 48 cases, Yunlin County with 33, Taoyuan with eight, Taipei and New Taipei City with five each, and one or two cases each in five other cities and counties.
Photo courtesy of Tsao Chia-hao via CNA
As of Monday, a total of 4,338 cases of locally acquired dengue fever had been reported this year, he said, adding that eight severe dengue cases and three deaths were confirmed last week, raising the total to 19 severe cases and six deaths this year.
The three deceased were men aged 60 to 90 who lived in Tainan, CDC physician Wu Hao-hsin (鄔豪欣) said.
All of them had underlying health conditions, including cancer, diabetes, heart disease and hypertension, Wu said, adding that they did not seek medical attention immediately after the onset of symptoms.
Photo courtesy of the Tainan City Government
The three sought treatment after their symptoms had worsened, including vomiting, loss of consciousness and gastrointestinal bleeding, but as the disease progressed rapidly, they died within three days of being hospitalized, including a man with hepatitis who died on the day he was rushed to hospital, he said.
The CDC advises people to seek medical attention immediately if they see warning signs of severe illness from dengue, including severe stomach pain, persistent vomiting, altered consciousness, bleeding from the nose or gums, vomiting blood or blood in the stool, CDC Deputy Director-General and spokesperson Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑慧) said.
Cleaning their surroundings is important especially within the week after a typhoon or flood, she said.
People should remove standing water from cans, pots, tires and containers inside and outside the house as they are breeding grounds for mosquitoes.
As Typhoon Haikui had brought heavy rainfall to southern Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) yesterday morning traveled south to inspect the situation in Tainan and Kaohsiung and join a dengue prevention task force meeting in Kaohsiung.
Meanwhile, there were 86,870 hospital visits for flu-like illness last week, and the number has been increasing over the past few weeks, Gou said.
The positivity rates of influenza viruses among respiratory viruses identified at contracted laboratories in the past two weeks were above 20 percent, signifying that seasonal flu has entered its epidemic phase, with influenza A(H1N1) and A(H3N2) both circulating, Gou said.
CDC data showed that 43 cases of severe flu complications and 12 flu-related deaths were confirmed last week, with the youngest fatality an 11-year-old girl.
There were 12,145 hospital visits for enterovirus infections last week, which is about the same as the previous week, but still above the epidemic threshold of 11,000 hospital visits per week, and a new severe case was reported — a one-year-old girl, Gou said.
Wu said the girl came down with a fever on Aug. 20, developed oral ulcers and was limping the next day, so she was hospitalized and diagnosed with coxsackievirus A6.
As school has just started, parents are advised to watch their children for signs of severe illness from enterovirus infection, and to promptly seek medical attention if they show symptoms, Tseng said.
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