Infectious disease experts yesterday raised caution about antibiotic resistance, saying that a bacteria partially responsible for a surge in respiratory illness in China is 60 percent resistant to antibiotics in Taiwan.
On Wednesday, the WHO officially asked China to provide detailed information on an increase in respiratory illnesses.
Chinese authorities attributed the increase to circulation of known pathogens such as influenza, Mycoplasma pneumoniae — a common bacterial infection that typically affects younger children — respiratory syncytial virus and the virus that causes COVID-19, the WHO said.
Photo: CNA
Infectious Diseases Society of Taiwan president Wang Fu-te (王復德) told an event in Taipei that Mycoplasma pneumoniae is an oft-seen infection in Taiwan that occurs year-round.
Zithromax, the antibiotic brand used to treat the infection, is already seeing 60 percent drug resistance in Taiwan, he said.
Hospitals have invested much in personnel and drug costs to combat cancer or in other situations such as surgeries or organ transplants, but drug resistance could reduce the effectiveness of such efforts, he said.
Wang called on the government and academia to jointly work on resolving the issue, suggesting drug management for animals and plants and broader public awareness.
Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Lo Yi-chun (羅一鈞) said that recent monitoring has shown that drug resistance for the Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has dropped, while drug resistances for the Gram-negative bacteria-induced infections have increased.
Lo said these conditions have limited doctors’ ability to prescribe medication, adding that if bacteria develop multiple or broad drug resistance and limit effective drugs to one or two kinds, the day when no antibacterial is available might come soon.
He said the government is working with the Ministry of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration on a five-year antibacterial agent management plan.
Starting in 2025, the government is to begin limiting the use of antibacterial drugs on multiple fronts and launch a campaign to spread awareness of how misuse of antibacterial drugs could build bacterial drug resistance among the public, Lo said.
National Health Insurance Administration Deputy Director-General Lee Cheng-hua (李丞華) said the government urged doctors to provide feedback on drug usage so that plans and restrictions could be implemented to scale back the ease of obtaining antibacterial drugs.
Additional reporting by Reuters
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition