Hospital visits for influenza-like illnesses and diarrhea declined last week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, adding that expanded use of government-funded flu antiviral drugs would be extended until the end of the month, when the flu epidemic period is expected to end.
CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) told a news conference in Taipei that hospital visits for flu-like illness fell about 17 percent, from 138,875 in the previous week to 115,182 last week, but remained above the epidemic threshold.
Laboratory data showed that of the respiratory pathogens tests conducted in the past four weeks, flu viruses were the most common pathogen, with the influenza A(H1N1) virus being the dominant strain in local communities, she said.
Photo: Lin Chih-yi, Taipei Times
Sixty-four cases with serious flu complications and 13 flu-related deaths were reported last week, for a total of 1,063 serious cases, including 217 deaths, since the flu season began on Oct 1 last year, she said.
A man in his 30s, the youngest death reported last week, had underlying health conditions, including heart disease, and was not vaccinated against the flu this season, CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said.
The man began experiencing cold-like symptoms, including coughing and fatigue, in the middle of last month and sought treatment at a clinic, but was rushed to a hospital about a week later for a fever, shortness of breath, severe cough and general weakness, Lin said.
His condition did not improve after treatment, and he died of flu-induced pneumonia and respiratory failure about a week after being hospitalized, Lin said.
The centers expects flu activity to continue declining, and would likely drop below the epidemic threshold by the middle or end of this month, CDC Deputy Director-General Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑慧) said.
As there is still a risk of contracting the flu or developing serious complications after infection, despite a drop in cases, the CDC would extend the expanded use of government-funded flu antivirals until March 31, she said.
Meanwhile, hospitals last week reported 275,238 visits for diarrhea, about 10 percent fewer than the previous week, but still the highest of the same week in five years, Lee said.
In the past four weeks, there have been 344 reports of cluster diarrhea cases, also the highest for the same period in five years, she said, adding that norovirus was the cause for a great majority of the cluster cases tested for pathogens.
In other illnesses, Tseng said an imported case of mpox was reported last week in an unvaccinated Taiwanese man who returned from Thailand.
A surge in mpox cases that started last year continues to meet the criteria of a public health emergency of international concern, she said, citing a statement from the WHO following the third meeting of the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee on the event, held on Tuesday last week.
The WHO also issued temporary recommendations to countries where there is sustained community transmission of mpox, and where there are clusters of cases or sporadic travel-related cases of MPXV clade Ib, she said.
Lee said that recent mpox cases in Taiwan have been sporadic, with only two local cases and one imported case reported so far this year.
People planning to travel to the Songkran Festival in Thailand next month and are expecting to engage in behaviors with higher risk of infection, or who are eligible for the mpox vaccine, are recommended to get fully vaccinated as soon as possible, Tseng said.
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