Wed, Jun 19, 2024 page3

• COVID-19 hospitalizations rise sharply

  NEARLY DOUBLE: Positive tests for newer subvariants have increased, with local and imported cases of KP.2 and KP.3 reaching 27%, 13%, 6% and 9% percent respectively

  • By Lee I-chia / Staff reporter
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  The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 last week nearly doubled from the previous week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, adding that a six-month-old was diagnosed with serious enterovirus, the fourth such case this year.

  The weekly number of local hospitalized COVID-19 cases last week rose to 623 from 329 a week earlier, while the number of deaths increased to 38 from 20, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said.

  People aged 65 or older have accounted for about 79 percent of cumulative hospitalizations and deaths from the disease this year, with most of them having underlying health conditions, Lee said.

  

  People wearing mask visit a park in Kaohsiung yesterday.

  Photo: CNA

  Genomic surveillance data from the past four weeks showed that the JN.1 subvariant is still the dominant strain, accounting for 54 percent of imported cases and 60 percent of local cases, she said.

  People who have tested positive for the newer subvariants have increased, with 27 percent of imported cases and 13 percent of local cases infected with the KP.2 subvariant, and 6 percent of imported cases and 9 percent of local cases infected with KP.3, she added.

  CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said that two of the people hospitalized last week were infants, a three-month-old boy and an eight-month-old boy, both of whom had not been vaccinated against COVID-19.

  They had shortness of breath one or two days after the onset of cold-like symptoms, including a fever and coughing with phlegm, and were diagnosed with pneumonia, Lin said.

  Both boys were admitted to intensive care units for treatment and have been discharged from hospital, he said.

  The CDC advises people to undergo an at-home COVID-19 antigen rapid test if they develop cold-like symptoms and inform their doctor of the test result when seeking medical attention to help with a diagnosis, he said.

  CDC Deputy Director-General Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑慧) said that COVID-19 activity is expected to peak in August or September, but the nation’s XBB.1.5-adapted COVID-19 vaccine coverage is still 11.4 percent, considered relatively low.

  Facing new emerging subvariants that are more contagious, vaccines can still provide protection against severe complications and deaths, Tseng said.

  Lee said that there were 17,634 hospital visits for enterovirus infection reported last week, 3.2 percent fewer than the previous week.

  The epidemic period is not over, she said.

  A six-month-old girl, who did not have underlying health conditions, developed serious enterovirus complications, including spasms, on June 4, Lin said.

  The spasms returned on June 6, during which the girl’s eyes would roll back, he said.

  However, she did not have common symptoms such as a runny nose, diarrhea or vomiting, he said, adding that she was hospitalized the next day with a fever and spasms, and tested negative for influenza and COVID-19.

  Doctors suspected her symptoms were due to a central nervous system infection and she was admitted to an intensive care unit for treatment, he said.

  She tested positive for Coxsackievirus A10 and was discharged from hospital after nine days, he said.

  The source of the infection was not known and the girl’s family members did not have apparent symptoms, although adults with the disease often display no or mild symptoms, he said.

  Caregivers should change their clothes and wash their hands thoroughly with soap immediately upon entering the home and before they approach young children, he said.

  Parents and children should wash their hands with soap frequently, especially before eating, before playing with young children, after blowing their nose, after using the toilet, and before and after visiting a clinic or hospital, Lin said.

  Children aged five or under are at higher risk of severe complications from enterovirus infection, which can progress rapidly, so caregivers of young children who have been diagnosed with the disease should pay close attention for signs of serious illness, including sleepiness, altered consciousness, lack of vitality, limb weakness or numbness, myoclonic seizure, continuous vomiting, shortness of breath and a rapid heartbeat, he said, adding that children who show such symptoms should immediately be taken to a hospital for emergency treatment.
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