The condition of a Taiwanese businessman who contracted the H7N9 avian influenza virus in China has improved to the point where he has been taken off his ventilator, and may soon be moved to a normal ward, National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH) said on Tuesday.
“The patient has been taken off a ventilator, is no longer testing positive for the virus and has been taken off the anti-flu drug Tamiflu,” NTUH deputy superintendent Chang Shan-chwen (張上淳) said.
“If all goes well, the patient can be transferred to a normal ward in the next couple of days for continued treatment and recuperation,” Chang added.
The 53-year-old man, identified only by his surname, Lee (李), has been receiving intensive treatment in a negative pressure quarantine ward since April 20 after testing positive for the H7N9 virus following his return to Taiwan on April 9.
At the most serious stage of his illness, Lee was put on a ventilator and given extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) therapy. He was taken off the ECMO, a machine that functions as an artificial lung, on Thursday last week.
“While the patient is clearly conscious and his health is improving steadily, he nevertheless remains weak and still suffers shortness of breath,” Chang said at a media briefing, with the consent of the patient’s family.
“It is still not clear when Lee can be discharged,” he added.
The H7N9 strain of bird flu had not been found in humans until cases were reported in China in April.
Scientists in China and other countries said the virus has jumped from birds, most probably chickens, to humans.
The virus has so far infected at least 129 people in China and killed 31 of them, according to the latest data from China’s health authorities and the WHO. To date, Taiwan is the only place outside China that has reported a case of H7N9.
Chang said that a sample of the virus obtained from Lee is likely to be used for virological study to analyze its genetic makeup, clinical symptoms and effectiveness of drug treatments.
A report from the Reuters news agency on Tuesday said that the WHO and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have prepared samples of the virus to give to manufacturers for vaccine production.
New cell-culture technology developed by Novartis AG has reduced the production timeline for vaccines to a matter of weeks, although human safety trials will still require several months, the report said.
Major flu vaccine manufacturers include Sanofi SA, GlaxoSmithKline PLC, Novartis, Australia’s CSL Ltd, Baxter International Inc and AstraZeneca PLC, the report said.
The two main drugs that appear to be effective against H7N9 are Roche Holding AG’s Tamiflu and GlaxoSmithKline’s Relenza, the report added.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was questioned by prosecutors for allegedly orchestrating an attack on a taxi driver after he was allegedly driven on a longer than necessary route in a car he disliked. The questioning at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office was ongoing as of press time last night. Police have recommended charges of attempted murder. The legally embattled actor — known for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代) — is under a separate investigation for allegedly using fake medical documents to evade mandatory military service. According to local media reports, police said Wang earlier last year ordered a
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
President William Lai (賴清德) should protect Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), and stop supporting domestic strife and discord, former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) wrote on Facebook yesterday. US President Donald Trump and TSMC on Monday jointly announced that the company would invest an additional US$100 billion over the next few years to expand its semiconductor manufacturing operations in the US. The TSMC plans have promoted concern in Taiwan that it would effectively lead to the chipmaking giant becoming Americanized. The Lai administration lacks tangible policies to address concerns that Taiwan might follow in Ukraine’s footsteps, Ma wrote. Instead, it seems to think it could
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
RSS