Twelve cases of whooping cough, a five-year high, have been reported so far this year, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday.
Three of the 12 cases were a family cluster, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said, adding that four were reported in Tainan, two in Taipei, two in Taoyuan, two in Kaohsiung, one in Taichung and one in Yilan County.
The people ranged in age from one month to 40, and five of them were three months or younger, Lee said.
Photo:CNA
As the caseload is relatively high this year, people are advised to get vaccinated, she said.
Last week, four cases were reported, including a one-month-old boy, a two-month-old boy and his mother, and a woman in her 40s.
The one-month-old had “become lethargic and had a loss of appetite” in the early stages of the condition, CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said.
The boy was diagnosed with a common cold, but later developed fatigue, more severe coughing and vomiting, Lin said.
“He was taken to an emergency room, where an X-ray showed that he had pulmonary infiltrates,” she said.
The boy was diagnosed with acute bronchiolitis, which did not improve after two weeks, she said.
He was treated with antibiotics in an intensive care unit before gradually improving, she said, adding that he was still hospitalized.
CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said that whooping cough cases were high across the region this year, with China reporting 97,000 new cases in May, and 248,000 to date since January.
Cases are also on the rise in Europe, where nearly 18,000 infections have been reported in the Czech Republic this year, Lo said.
“People with infants or young children are advised to get their children vaccinated as soon as possible,” he said. “Also, people planning to travel abroad should get vaccinated before departing.”
Initial symptoms of whooping cough are similar to those of a cold and people often ignore them and delay medical treatment, which puts family members and others at risk of contracting the disease, Lo said.
“If you have a cough, wheeziness, trouble breathing or vomiting after coughing, see a doctor as soon as possible,” Lo said.
Separately yesterday, the CDC said that the peak of COVID-19 and influenza infections for the season was over.
Outpatient and emergency visits for flu and COVID-19 fell by more than 10 percent last week, it said.
The dominant variant of SARS-CoV-2 in recent local COVID-19 infections was JN.1, accounting for 39 percent, while 20 percent of cases were the LB.1 variant, it said.
There were 898 new confirmed local COVID-19 hospitalizations from Tuesday last week to Monday, a decrease from 987 cases in the previous seven-day period, it said.
There were 104 new COVID-19-related deaths in the latest seven-day window, a slight increase from 99 in the previous period, along with 61 new cases of severe flu and 11 flu-related deaths, it added.
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