Physical intimacy between young people is the main way people contract hepatitis A in Taiwan and most young people do not have immunity against the disease, the Taiwan Children’s Liver Foundation said.
Five hundred and twenty-nine cases of acute hepatitis A infection have been reported this year, already surpassing the 171 cases last year, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said, adding that it is a dramatic increase compared with the total numbers of reported cases in the past few years.
As of Sunday, the CDC’s data showed 141 hepatitis A cases have been reported in Taipei and 170 cases in New Taipei City this year.
Foundation chairperson Chang Mei-hwei (張美惠), who is also an Academia Sinica fellow and professor at National Taiwan University’s College of Medicine, said that about 1,600 cases of acute hepatitis A were reported between 2006 and last year, and the spike this year is worrying.
The numbers have significantly increased since January, with sometimes 30 or 40 cases reported in a week, mostly of young people living in metropolitan areas, she said.
Chang said CDC data suggest homosexual men and bisexual people have a higher rate of infection.
Hepatitis A can be transmitted through fecal-oral interaction and sexual activity, Chang said, adding that it can be prevented by maintaining good personal hygiene, including washing hands frequently, avoiding raw food and getting vaccinated.
“Clinical trials on adults and children both showed good results for hepatitis A vaccine,” she said, adding that immunity can last for about 20 years or more if a person gets vaccinated during childhood. It is recommended that children aged between 12 and 18 months are vaccinated.
The CDC urged people to practice safe sex, and to refrain from sharing hypodermic needles to prevent hepatitis A infection.
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by
Taiwan is doing everything it can to prevent a military conflict with China, including building up asymmetric defense capabilities and fortifying public resilience, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said in a recent interview. “Everything we are doing is to prevent a conflict from happening, whether it is 2027 or before that or beyond that,” Hsiao told American podcaster Shawn Ryan of the Shawn Ryan Show. She was referring to a timeline cited by several US military and intelligence officials, who said Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had instructed the Chinese People’s Liberation Army to be ready to take military action against Taiwan