More than 181,000 hospital visits for flu-like illnesses were reported last week, marking the highest level in a decade and surpassing a previous predicted peak for this season, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, as it also reported the first local case of typhoid fever this year.
CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said disease surveillance data showed that the influenza A(H1N1) virus was still the dominant strain circulating in Taiwan in the past four weeks.
“There were 181,995 hospital visits for flu-like illness last week, and it is the highest number in the same week in 10 years,” Guo said.
Photo: Liao Yao-tung, Taipei Times
The centers also received reports of 128 severe flu cases, with the majority having the A(H1N1) virus, and 28 flu-related deaths, all due to the A(H1N1) virus, he said, adding that the number of severe cases has been increasing in the past few weeks.
An accumulated 795 severe cases, including 160 deaths, have been reported this flu season, which started on Oct. 1 last year, he said.
CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said one of the people who died last week was the youngest this flu season, a boy younger than 10 years old who had asthma and did not get vaccinated.
Photo: CNA
His symptoms included a fever, runny nose and cough with phlegm last month, but his condition rapidly worsened and he was rushed to hospital the next day with a fever of more than 40°C, loss of consciousness and difficulty breathing, Lin said.
The boy was also found to have septic shock and suspected acute necrotizing encephalopathy, so was admitted to an intensive care unit for treatment, but he developed multiple organ failure and died about a week later, he said.
The youngest severe case last week was a girl younger than five years old who received antiviral drugs after seeking medical attention at a clinic, but she was later rushed to hospital for spasms, altered consciousness, vomiting and a fever of more than 40°C, Lin said.
The girl was found to have developed encephalitis and she was being treated in an intensive care unit, he said.
The most common severe flu complication in adults and older children is pneumonia, but young children have a higher risk of developing encephalitis, and the disease progression is usually very fast, so parents should pay attention if their young children with the flu show signs of severe illness and seek medical attention, Lin said.
CDC Deputy Director-General Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑慧) said there are about 13,000 doses of government-funded flu vaccines still available and an additional 100,000 doses have been purchased which are expected to be available from Thursday next week, so people with higher risk of severe flu complications are advised to get vaccinated.
TOO MANY PATIENTS
Hospitals nationwide are quickly filling up due to cases of influenza, norovirus and extreme colds, leaving ventilators in short supply and some patients without a bed.
Emergency rooms were at capacity in many hospitals as of 12:30pm yesterday, Ministry of Health and Welfare statistics showed.
Meanwhile, Guo said the first local case of typhoid fever was reported last week, a teenage boy in northern Taiwan who began having a fever, muscle pain, sore throat, coughing, runny nose and mouth ulcers on Jan. 27.
He was hospitalized after seeking treatment, and diagnosed with typhoid fever on Wednesday last week.
Lin said the boy did not visit another nation, but did eat seafood with his family at a fishing harbor during the incubation period, and two other family members had diarrhea a few days after eating, so it could be that he got infected from eating contaminated seafood.
NOROVIRUS
There were 302,644 hospital visits for diarrhea last week, the highest number in the same week in a decade, and the 398 clusters of diarrhea cases reported in the past four weeks also mark the highest number in the same period in five years, Guo said adding that 98.6 percent of the tested clusters were infected with norovirus.
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