Hospital visits for diarrhea have declined for the past two weeks, but last week’s 255,775 visits were still the most for the same week in five years, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday.
Hospital visits for diarrhea last week were down 9 percent from the previous week, CDC Deputy Director-General and spokeswoman Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑慧) said.
However, hospital visits last week were still the highest for the same week in five years, Tseng said, adding that among 274 clusters of diarrhea cases reported in the past four weeks, most were linked to restaurant or hotel visits.
Photo: CNA
Of the 156 clusters that were tested for pathogens, 97.4 percent were caused by norovirus infection, she added.
Norovirus is a highly contagious virus and people of any age can get infected through direct exposure to contaminated food, water and surfaces, or through inhalation or ingestion of tiny particles of feces or vomit from an infected person, the CDC said.
Common symptoms of norovirus infection include vomiting and diarrhea, and other symptoms may include stomach cramping, stomachache, muscle ache, fever, nausea and headache, it said.
“As diarrhea cases remain high, we want to remind the public to pay attention to hand and food hygiene, to reduce the risk of contracting or spreading gastrointestinal tract infections,” Tseng said.
The CDC urged people to wash their hands thoroughly with soap and water before preparing food and eating, as well as after using the toilet; store raw and cooked foods separately to avoid cross-contamination; and cook seafood, especially shellfish, thoroughly to reduce the risk of norovirus infection.
Meanwhile, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said data showed that the main respiratory pathogen in the past four weeks was the influenza (flu) virus, with influenza A(H1N1) being the dominant strain.
There were 111,189 hospital visits for flu-like illness last week, the fourth consecutive week of declines, Guo said.
However, 44 severe flu cases and 22 flu-related deaths were reported, he added.
On Saturday the CDC received a report from Japan’s contact under the WHO’s International Health Regulations that a Japanese woman in her 20s from Akashi City in Hyogo Prefecture was diagnosed with measles, and had visited Taipei and New Taipei City during her incubation period, Tseng said.
The Japanese woman developed a fever on March 1, arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in the afternoon of March 2 on a VietJet Air flight from Osaka, took the Taoyuan Airport MRT line to Taipei Main Station and the Taipei MRT’s Tamsui-Xinyi Line (Red Line), Tseng said.
On Monday last week, the woman took the Taiwan Tourist Shuttle bus to and from Taipei Railway Station to Jiufen (九份) in New Taipei City’s Rueifang District (瑞芳), and in the evening ate at a hotpot restaurant in Taipei’s Datong District (大同), Tseng added.
The woman took the Taoyuan Airport MRT line to Taoyuan airport at noon on Tuesday last week, where she boarded a VietJet Air flight to Osaka in the afternoon, Tseng said.
The approximate times she visited the locations are on the CDC’s official Web site, Tseng said.
The CDC has informed local health departments to conduct contact tracing and people who have visited the locations at about the same time as the woman should monitor their health for 18 days, avoid public venues, wear a mask and seek medical attention if they develop fever, coughing, rashes, rhinitis, inflamed eyes (conjunctivitis) or other suspected measles symptoms, she added.
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