With the south of the nation being battered by rain, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported a record-high number of dengue fever cases recorded in Tainan in the past week.
Thirty-eight new cases of locally acquired dengue fever were reported across the nation last week, of which 32 occurred in Tainan — primarily in the Northern (北) and Annan (安南) districts — the highest weekly number ever reported in the city, the centers said.
The centers said the city has also seen the highest number of dengue fever cases in the summer over the past eight years, with 71 cases so far since this summer.
“The significant increase could be due to the failure of some waste recycling plants to properly clean out their water containers,” the centers said.
Four of the other six cases were reported in Kaohsiung, with one each in Chiayi County and Taichung, the centers’ disease monitoring statistics showed.
In related news, in the face of a growing threat from the novel influenza A virus, the centers imported 900 tablets of antiviral compound Favipiravir from Japan on Wednesday last week in an effort to offer a new treatment option for patients resistant to more common drugs.
“The compound will be available to patients diagnosed with novel influenza A virus who are resistant to common flu medications Tamiflu and Relenza,” CDC Deputy Director-General Chou Jih-haw (周志浩) said.
Chou said there had only been one patient who fits that profile so far this month, while the imported drugs are enough to treat 22 people.
In addition, the centers urged the public to step up anti-mosquito measures, as Japanese encephalitis is also in its peak season, with a total of 21 people having contracted the mosquito-borne disease so far this year.
Two new cases were reported last week — a 57-year-old woman and a 59-year-old man — both of whom live in close proximity to a pig farm, pigeon loft, rice paddy or river, it said.
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