Doctors are warning people of the danger of infection from invasive medical procedures such as dental work, after a recent case in which a young woman nearly died from inflammation of a heart valve after having a wisdom tooth removed.
Following medical treatment, if a person experiences fatigue, fever, lack of appetite or unusual weight loss, the patient should see a doctor to determine the cause because the symptoms could be due to an infection, said Chiu Kuang-ming (邱冠明), the head of the Cardiovascular Surgery Section at Far Eastern Memorial Hospital in New Taipei City.
The Chinese-language United Daily News earlier this week reported that a 25-year-old woman had a wisdom tooth extracted at a dental clinic in February and afterward began to have bouts of fever and chills.
As the symptoms persisted, she went to a hospital. A doctor said she had a case of endocaritis, an inflammation of the inner layer of the heart, which prevented her mitral valve from closing properly.
After undergoing surgery at the hospital to repair the valve and a month-long antibiotic treatment, the woman recovered, the United Daily News reported.
Chiu said her symptoms were not too severe, and although she felt tired, she was able to continue working and coped with her occasional fevers by resting.
“This went on for three months before the doctor made the correct diagnosis... Being a nurse herself, she has good awareness of irregular health conditions. However, the symptoms are easily overlooked by the general public,” Chiu said.
He said in serious cases of infections, some patients nearly had a stroke, others had impaired vision with inflammation of the liver and kidneys and another person lost about 10kg.
“Therefore, after any invasive medical procedure, people should get an examination to check their vital signs and health condition. They should be careful to prevent a small wound from becoming a major illness, which would be too high a price to pay,” Chiu added.
“Most invasive procedures — such as having teeth extracted by a dentist or for an intestinal tumor — bring the risk of infection through the incision. Oral cavities and saliva contain a lot of bacteria, so when a tooth is extracted, the wound is exposed to microbes, which can cause infection,” Chiu said.
He said that most bacteria cannot survive for long in the bloodstream, because they are removed by the body’s immune system, but some people have faulty immune systems that cannot eliminate all the microbes.
“When some bacteria reach the heart, they affix to the valves and infect and destroy tissue, which can lead to endocarditis and other conditions,” Chiu said.
Causes for most cases of endocarditis cannot be traced, but 10 percent of cases in the nation in the past six months were a result of dental work, he said.
He advised people to seek medical help if they developed abnormal health conditions following dental procedures.
Taiwan's Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said Saturday that she would not be intimidated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), following reports that Chinese agents planned to ram her car during a visit to the Czech Republic last year. "I had a great visit to Prague & thank the Czech authorities for their hospitality & ensuring my safety," Hsiao said on social media platform X. "The CCP's unlawful activities will NOT intimidate me from voicing Taiwan's interests in the international community," she wrote. Hsiao visited the Czech Republic on March 18 last year as vice president-elect and met with Czech Senate leadership, including
There have been clear signs of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) attempts to interfere in the nationwide recall vote on July 26 in support of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators facing recall, an unnamed government official said, warning about possible further actions. The CCP is actively involved in Taiwanese politics, and interference in the recall vote is to be expected, with multiple Chinese state media and TAO attempts to discredit the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and undermine public support of their recall movement, the official said. This interference includes a smear campaign initiated this month by a pro-Beijing Hong Kong news outlet against
A week-long exhibition on modern Tibetan history and the Dalai Lama’s global advocacy opened yesterday in Taipei, featuring quotes and artworks highlighting human rights and China’s ongoing repression of Tibetans, Hong Kongers and Uighurs. The exhibition, the first organized by the Human Rights Network for Tibet and Taiwan (HRNTT), is titled “From the Snowy Ridges to the Ocean of Wisdom.” “It would be impossible for Tibetans inside Tibet to hold an exhibition like this — we can do it. because we live in a free and democratic country,” HRNTT secretary-general Tashi Tsering said. Tashi Tsering, a Taiwan-based Tibetan who has never
A first shipment of five tons of Taiwan tilapia was sent from Tainan to Singapore on Wednesday, following an order valued at NT$600,000 (US$20,500) placed with a company in the city. The products, including frozen whole fish and pre- cooked fish belly, were dispatched from Jiangjun Fishing Harbor, where a new aquatic processing and logistics center is under construction. At the launch, Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) called the move a “breakthrough,” marking Taiwan’s expansion into the Singaporean tilapia market. Taiwan’s tilapia exports have traditionally focused on the United States, Canada, and the Middle East, Huang said, adding that the new foothold in
RSS