Weekly COVID-19 and influenza-related medical visits increased last week, while cumulative cases of syphilis and HIV are higher this year than in the same period last year, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday.
Surveillance data on respiratory infections in the past four weeks show that SARS-CoV-2 and flu viruses are still the most common viral pathogens spreading in local communities, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said.
COVID-19 outpatient and emergency department visits totaled 26,214 last week, up 4.5 percent from the previous week, a slower increase than the week before, he said.
Photo: Lin Chih-yi, Taipei Times
Eighty-four severe cases and 12 deaths related to COVID-19 were also confirmed between Tuesday last week and Monday, Guo said.
Among cases recorded since October last year, 73.8 percent of severe cases and 87 percent of deaths involved people aged 65 or older, with the majority of severe cases involving people who had not received this season’s COVID-19 vaccine, he added.
There were 95,011 outpatient and emergency department visits for flu-like illnesses last week, a figure that has gradually risen over the past few weeks, Guo said.
Eighty cases of flu with severe complications and 17 flu-related deaths were confirmed last week, he said.
In the current flu season, which started in October last year, 1,075 severe cases and 205 deaths have been confirmed, he said, adding that influenza A(H1N1) has been the most common virus strain spreading in local communities in the past few weeks.
One of the newly confirmed flu-related deaths was that of a five-year-old girl who did not have underlying health conditions, CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said.
The girl was up-to-date on routine vaccinations, but never received a flu vaccine, Lin said.
The girl developed a fever and cough late last month and received oral medication after seeing a doctor at a clinic; she later developed symptoms including reduced activitty and appetite, vomiting, unsteady gait, altered consciousness and eyes rolling back, he said.
She was rushed to an emergency room with a fever of up to 42°C, and had low blood pressure and blood oxygen levels, he said.
Tests showed she had influenza A and brain edema, so she was quickly intubated and admitted to an intensive care unit and treated with antiviral medication, Lin said.
However, after about two weeks of treatment, the girl died after developing acute kidney failure and septic shock, he said, adding that the main cause of death was severe influenza complicated by encephalitis.
As flu activity has been gradually increasing, the CDC would expand eligibility for publicly funded antiviral medication for treating flu from Monday next week to the end of next month, CDC Deputy Director-General and spokesman Lin Min-cheng (林明誠) said.
Flu-like-illness medical visits among children aged four or younger last week increased by 14.1 percent from the previous week, while visits among people aged 65 or older rose by 5.1 percent, he said.
As young children and people aged 65 or older are at high risk of developing severe complications from the flu, people should pay close attention to their health conditions, seek medical attention if suspected flu symptoms occur so that antiviral treatment can be assessed early, and seek emergency treatment when signs of severe illness appear, he said.
Meanwhile, as today is Qixi Festival, also known as Lovers’ Day, the CDC reminded people to practice safe sex to protect their health and prevent the spread of sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
As of last month, 6,116 cases of syphilis, 537 cases of HIV infection and 3,092 cases of gonorrhea were reported this year, an about 4 percent increase in syphilis and a 5 percent increase in HIV infection compared with the same period last year, the CDC said.
Gonorrhea cases fell by 15 percent, it said.
A cumulative 543 mpox cases have been reported in Taiwan, including 27 this year, about the same as the 28 cases reported in the same period last year, Lin Min-cheng said.
The centers urge people to use a condom correctly throughout sexual contact and use a water-based lubricant to protect each other, and to seek medical attention immediately if they suspect they were exposed to an infection after unsafe sex.
The CDC and the Taiwan AIDS Nurses Association last month set up an anonymous third-party partner notification platform for STIs (https://reurl.cc/AXOAoj), allowing people to anonymously send STI risk notifications to their partners to encourage them to get tested, he said.
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