Physical intimacy between young people is the main way people contract hepatitis A in Taiwan and most young people do not have immunity against the disease, the Taiwan Children’s Liver Foundation said.
Five hundred and twenty-nine cases of acute hepatitis A infection have been reported this year, already surpassing the 171 cases last year, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said, adding that it is a dramatic increase compared with the total numbers of reported cases in the past few years.
As of Sunday, the CDC’s data showed 141 hepatitis A cases have been reported in Taipei and 170 cases in New Taipei City this year.
Foundation chairperson Chang Mei-hwei (張美惠), who is also an Academia Sinica fellow and professor at National Taiwan University’s College of Medicine, said that about 1,600 cases of acute hepatitis A were reported between 2006 and last year, and the spike this year is worrying.
The numbers have significantly increased since January, with sometimes 30 or 40 cases reported in a week, mostly of young people living in metropolitan areas, she said.
Chang said CDC data suggest homosexual men and bisexual people have a higher rate of infection.
Hepatitis A can be transmitted through fecal-oral interaction and sexual activity, Chang said, adding that it can be prevented by maintaining good personal hygiene, including washing hands frequently, avoiding raw food and getting vaccinated.
“Clinical trials on adults and children both showed good results for hepatitis A vaccine,” she said, adding that immunity can last for about 20 years or more if a person gets vaccinated during childhood. It is recommended that children aged between 12 and 18 months are vaccinated.
The CDC urged people to practice safe sex, and to refrain from sharing hypodermic needles to prevent hepatitis A infection.
Twenty-four Republican members of the US House of Representatives yesterday introduced a concurrent resolution calling on the US government to abolish the “one China” policy and restore formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Led by US representatives Tom Tiffany and Scott Perry, the resolution calls for not only re-establishing formal relations, but also urges the US Trade Representative to negotiate a free-trade agreement (FTA) with Taiwan and for US officials to advocate for Taiwan’s full membership in the UN and other international organizations. In a news release announcing the resolution, Tiffany, who represents a Wisconsin district, called the “one China” policy “outdated, counterproductive
ON PAROLE: The 73-year-old suspect has a criminal record of rape committed when he was serving in the military, as well as robbery and theft, police said The Kaohsiung District Court yesterday approved the detention of a 73-year-old man for allegedly murdering three women. The suspect, surnamed Chang (張), was arrested on Wednesday evening in connection with the death of a 71-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙). The Kaohsiung City Police Department yesterday also unveiled the identities of two other possible victims in the serial killing case, a 75-year-old woman surnamed Huang (黃), the suspect’s sister-in-law, and a 75-year-old woman surnamed Chang (張), who is not related to the suspect. The case came to light when Chao disappeared after taking the suspect back to his residence on Sunday. Police, upon reviewing CCTV
Johanne Liou (劉喬安), a Taiwanese woman who shot to unwanted fame during the Sunflower movement protests in 2014, was arrested in Boston last month amid US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigrants, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said yesterday. The arrest of Liou was first made public on the official Web site of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Tuesday. ICE said Liou was apprehended for overstaying her visa. The Boston Field Office’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) had arrested Liou, a “fugitive, criminal alien wanted for embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes in Taiwan,” ICE said. Liou was taken into custody
TRUMP ERA: The change has sparked speculation on whether it was related to the new US president’s plan to dismiss more than 1,000 Joe Biden-era appointees The US government has declined to comment on a post that indicated the departure of Laura Rosenberger as chair of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT). Neither the US Department of State nor the AIT has responded to the Central News Agency’s questions on the matter, after Rosenberger was listed as a former chair on the AIT’s official Web site, with her tenure marked as 2023 to this year. US officials have said previously that they usually do not comment on personnel changes within the government. Rosenberger was appointed head of the AIT in 2023, during the administration of former US president Joe
RSS