The number of people with serious flu complications so far this season has reached the highest number for the same period in five years, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday.
The number of cases of flu-like illnesses reported across the nation last week rose 6.2 percent to 94,716, the centers said.
Last week, 57 people were confirmed to have serious flu complications, the majority of whom were infected with the influenza A (H1N1) strain, Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said.
Twenty-eight people, or 49 percent, of the cases with serious complications were older than 65, while 19 people, or 33 percent, were aged 55 to 64, Guo said.
Last week, there were also three flu-related deaths, all associated with the H1N1 strain, he said.
This flu season, there have been 294 confirmed cases of serious complications — 143 infected with the H1N1 strain and 133 infected with the H3N2 strain — the highest number for the same period in five years, he said.
The proportion of people aged 50 to 64 with serious flu complications has increased from 20 percent in the middle of last month to 30 percent, Kuo added.
Most of the people with serious complications were to the north of Miaoli County, perhaps because of the colder temperatures in northern Taiwan, but the more virulent strains could easily spread across the nation as people travel during the Lunar New Year holiday, CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said.
Seventy to 90 percent of the cases with serious complications were people with chronic medical conditions, CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said.
Over the past three flu seasons, of those with serious complications and chronic diseases, 35 percent had diabetes, 32 percent had cardiovascular disease and 18 percent had kidney diseases, Lin added.
On Monday, the centers also confirmed that three new cases of measles had this month been brought into Taiwan by three Taiwanese who traveled to the Philippines and Vietnam.
Five people have been diagnosed with the measles in the nation so far this year, the highest number for the same period in five years, the centers said, adding that all of them were infected in Southeast Asian countries.
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