New enterovirus infections last week surged to a six-year high, while 24 cases of serious influenza complications were reported last week, the highest this flu season, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday.
CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said that there were 7,851 hospital visits for enterovirus infections last week, up 43.5 percent from a week before.
Laboratory surveillance data showed that enterovirus cases have been rising, with the majority identified to be group A coxsackieviruses, while enterovirus 71 (EV71) and enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) were also detected, he said.
Photo: CNA
EV71 can cause more severe neurological complications, CDC physician Chen Wan-ching (陳婉青) said.
Two mild cases of EV71 infections were reported last week — two one-year-old infants in northern Taiwan who have both recovered after treatment, he said, adding that a total of seven mild cases of EV71 have been reported this year.
This year’s enterovirus infection trend is similar to that in 2016, so the risk of a large-scale outbreak is high, CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said.
It is likely that the epidemic period — defined as 11,000 hospital visits per week for two consecutive weeks — might start early next month and peak in early June, said Lo, who is also the CDC spokesman.
“We especially urge parents of young children and staff at elementary schools, preschools or infant care centers, to remind children to frequently wash their hands thoroughly, and enhance environmental disinfection measures, to prevent enteroviruses from spreading in households and on campuses,” he said.
Children aged five or younger are at a higher risk of severe complications, he said.
A child with enterovirus who develops symptoms of severe complications, such as drowsiness, altered consciousness, muscle weakness, sudden muscle contractions, continuous vomiting, or shortness of breath, should be taken to a hospital for immediate treatment, Lo said.
There were 52,648 hospital visits for flu-like illness, 24 cases of serious flu complications and three flu-related deaths last week, Guo said, adding that among the serious cases, 13 had influenza A (H3N2), nine had influenza A (H1N1) and two had other influenza A viruses.
As flu infections continue to rise slightly, the expanded use of public-funded anti-viral agents for treating flu-like illnesses has been extended to May 31, Chen said.
The CDC advises people who have respiratory symptoms to first take a COVID-19 rapid test, as SARS-CoV-2 is still spreading, Chen said.
The flu season usually ends in April, but cases have been rising recently likely because there was no large-scale outbreak between winter and spring, mask restrictions have been lifted and people are attending more gatherings than before, allowing the virus to spread more easily, Lo said.
Meanwhile, CDC Division of Acute Infectious Diseases Director Yang Ching-hui (楊靖慧) said as the COVID-19 pandemic caused essential immunization levels to decrease in many countries, leading to rising outbreaks of infectious diseases, global health organizations have joined forces to call for “the Big Catch-up,” that is, boosting essential vaccinations among children.
In Taiwan, the essential vaccination rates for young children have not decreased significantly due to the pandemic, but there have been slight decreases in the administration of a second dose of the 4-in-1 Tdap-IPV vaccine for children aged five to pre-elementary, and a second dose of the hepatitis A vaccine for children aged 18 to 21 months, she said, urging parents to take their children to get vaccinated according to the CDC’s recommended immunization schedule.
The CDC yesterday reported 12 new local cases of mpox — 12 men aged 20 to 70, 11 of whom live in northern Taiwan and one in the south.
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