Letting influenza run its course may seem like a good choice for some people, but it was not the case for a 36-year-old Greater Taichung man who almost died after developing complications.
According to Tung’s Taichung MetroHarbor Hospital, a man surnamed Tang (湯) started experiencing classic flu symptoms, including fever and cough, a few months ago and went to a local clinic, where he asked for some medication to ease his symptoms.
When the drugs failed to work as Tang had expected and he began to experience shortness of breath, he went to the Tung hospital for emergency care a week later.
Hospital staff diagnosed him as having influenza A, which is caused by a highly mutable virus prone to the accumulation of genetic mutations — a virus that is more likely to create a regional or even worldwide epidemic than the other types, and he was admitted, the hospital said.
Tang’s condition worsened three days after he was admitted.
He was connected to a ventilator before his rapidly deteriorating condition prompted the hospital to put him on an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine to support his cardiopulmonary function.
Two weeks later, Tang was disconnected from ECMO support after his heart function was restored to normal only face to another life-threatening condition — an 8cm intracranial blood clot on the right side of his brain.
Although the blood clot was removed, Tang ended up spending another two months in the hospital.
Physician Tsai Yu-lin (蔡育霖) said people with weakened immune systems who catch the influenza A virus are more susceptible to developing severe complications, such as pneumonia, myocarditis and encephalitis.
“People of all age can contract influenza through direct contact with bodily fluids containing the virus. Since those in their prime years tend to have a stronger immune system — which may launch a stronger response to an invading virus — they can exhibit more obvious symptoms when becoming sick with the flu,” Tsai said.
Tsai urged people to seek immediate medical care at large hospitals if their flu symptoms fail to abate after three days, to prevent further complications.
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