The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported this year’s first case of meningococcal meningitis, adding that hospital visits for diarrhea and flu-like illness are expected to significantly increase this week.
The case of meningococcal meningitis is a man in his 70s in northern Taiwan who did not visit other countries recently and died two weeks after the onset of symptoms, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said.
One to 12 cases of meningococcal meningitis have been reported each year in Taiwan in the past decade, she added.
Photo: Cheng Shu-ting, Taipei Times
The man did not have any underlying health conditions, but on Jan. 18 developed symptoms including difficulty breathing, dizziness and frequent falls, so he was rushed to a hospital, CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said.
Doctors found out that the man’s body temperature, blood pressure and blood oxygen levels were all low, and he had anemia, abnormal liver and kidney functions, pneumonia and sepsis, Lin said.
The man was hospitalized in a negative pressure isolation room and treated with antibiotics, he said.
The result of a blood culture test result on Jan. 22 confirmed that he was infected with the bacterium Neisseria meningitidis and he was also diagnosed with heart disease, he said.
As his lung conditions continued to worsen, the man died of pneumonia and respiratory failure on Saturday, he said.
Meningococcal meningitis is a bacterial infection that is mainly transmitted through direct contact with respiratory secretions or respiratory droplets from an infected person, Lin said, adding that it usually requires close or prolonged contact to spread.
Common symptoms include fever, severe headache and a stiff neck, but some people might also develop sepsis and pneumonia, he said.
The disease can progress rapidly and lead to multiple organ failure and death, he added.
It can be prevented by frequently washing hands and practicing good cough etiquette, he said.
Immunocompromised or elderly people should avoid staying in enclosed spaces for too long, and people who are visiting countries where the disease is spreading are advised to viist a travel medicine clinic at least four weeks before the trip to consult with a doctor about getting vaccinated, he added.
Meanwhile, hospital visits for diarrhea in the week before the Lunar New Year holiday (Jan. 19 to 25) reached 242,589, the most for the same period in five years, and decreased to 146,851 last week due to health facilities being closed for the holiday, Lin said.
The same trend was observed in hospital visits for flu-like illness, with 162,502 visits in the week before the holiday — the most for the period in 10 years — dropping to 91,436 visits last week, she said.
The CDC expects hospital visits for diarrhea and flu-like illness to increase this week as hospitals and clinics reopen, he added.
CDC Deputy Director-General Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑慧) said flu activity is still at a high level, and 142 cases of severe flu complications, including 25 deaths, have been reported in the past two weeks.
People who have higher risk of serious illness are advised to get vaccinated as soon as possible, Tseng said.
There are about 160,000 doses of government-funded flu vaccines available, she said.
In addition to vaccination, people should also wash their hands regularly, follow good cough etiquette and wear a mask when visiting crowded venues, she said.
In addition, the CDC’s surveillance over a cluster of measles cases associated with a hospital in central Taiwan — with the first case reported on Jan. 11 and a total of 20 confirmed cases recorded — ended on Friday last week, and the virus was not found to have spread further, she said.
However, parents of children aged 1 to 5 are advised to take their child to get the two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine for better protection, she added.
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