Influenza case numbers rose for the ninth consecutive week last week, with 150,251 hospital visits for flu-like illnesses and 16 flu-related deaths reported in the latest seven-day period, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday.
CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said that hospital visits for flu-like illnesses were 13.5 percent higher than the previous seven-day period.
The centers previously announced that Taiwan last month had entered the flu epidemic period.
Photo: Lin Chih-yi, Taipei Times
Respiratory viral pathogen surveillance data showed that flu viruses are the most common viruses circulating in local communities in the past four weeks, with influenza A(H3N2) being the dominant strain, followed by influenza A(H1N1) and influenza B viruses, Guo said.
CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said that the 16 flu-related deaths confirmed last week included a five-year-old girl, who did not have underlying health conditions and was not vaccinated against the flu.
She developed a fever and coughing in the middle of last month and was diagnosed with influenza A at a clinic, Lin said.
She rapidly developed symptoms including a persistent fever, diminished consciousness and convulsions, and was rushed to an emergency room, where she was diagnosed with encephalitis, he said, adding that her condition worsened despite treatment.
She died late last month, he said.
A woman in her 40s who had liver disease and was not vaccinated against the flu last year was hospitalized for symptoms including a fever, coughing and shortness of breath in the middle of last month, Lin said.
She developed diminished consciousness and pulmonary edema, he said.
The woman was diagnosed with influenza A and admitted to an intensive care unit, where she passed away about two weeks after the onset of symptoms, he said.
CDC Deputy Director-General Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑慧) said that government-funded flu and COVID-19 vaccinations both started on Wednesday last week.
As of Monday, about 1.068 million doses of the flu vaccines and about 295,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccines had been administered, Tseng said.
People who are eligible for the vaccines should get vaccinated as soon as possible, she said.
They should check their local health department’s Web site for information on where they can get vaccinated and book in advance to avoid waiting, she added.
Five brands of flu vaccines are in the government-funded program this year, with all of them 0.5mL prefilled single-dose syringes, she said.
No matter the age of the recipient, they should all receive a full dose of flu vaccine, she added.
The CDC received a report from a parent saying that their two children — aged two and seven — each only received half a dose of at a clinic, Tseng said.
The parent checked the standards online and took the children back to the clinic to get another half dose, she said.
A US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study showed that getting the full dose in separate shots on the same day is still effective, Tseng said.
However, her agency has asked the local health department to look into why the clinic made the mistake and it issued a notice to healthcare facilities reminding health professionals about the flu vaccine specifications, she said.
The agency also reported that a newborn had been diagnosed with enterovirus with severe complications.
There have been 17 cases of enterovirus infection with severe complications this year, including eight deaths, the most in the same period in six years, Tseng said.
Fourteen of the cases were newborns infected with echovirus 11, including seven deaths, so people should pay special attention for signs of severe illness in newborns and young children with enterovirus infection, she added.
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