COVID-19 and flu cases have plateaued, but the risk of dengue fever is rising, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday.
The average number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 was 232 per day last week, slightly lower than the previous week, although fewer people seeking medical attention over the Dragon Boat Festival long weekend might have affected the numbers, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said.
Genomic data showed that the Omicron XBB subvariant of SARS-CoV-2 was the dominant strain in the past four weeks, Guo said.
Photo courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control
There were 76,297 hospital visits for flu-like illnesses, 29 cases of serious flu complications and four flu-related deaths last week, with the H1N1 and H3N2 influenza A strains the most common in the past four weeks, he said, adding that H1N1 was slightly more prevalent.
CDC physician Chang Tien-hao (張天豪) said the four people who died of flu complications were men aged 50 to 100, three of whom had underlying health conditions.
They died from two to seven days after the onset of symptoms, Chang said, adding that none had been vaccinated for the flu this season.
CDC Deputy Director-General and spokesman Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said that although positivity rate from weekly COVID-19 tests at residential long-term care facilities fell from 3.3 percent to 2.1 percent last week, the long weekend might have been a factor, so more time was needed before a trend could be confirmed.
Government-funded COVID-19 rapid tests at nursing homes and social welfare facilities for elderly people would be extended until July 31, Lo said.
The number of hospital visits for enterovirus infection fell below the epidemic threshold of 11,000 last week and if weekly cases remain below the threshold this week, the epidemic status might be lifted, Lo said.
Seventeen new local cases of mpox were reported last week, so the CDC encourages people who are eligible to get vaccinated against the disease, he said.
Those who received their first mpox dose at least four weeks ago are encouraged to get the second dose to boost their protection, he said.
CDC data showed that 58,346 mpox vaccine doses have been administered in Taiwan, but only about 50 percent of those who had received their first dose more than four weeks ago have received a second.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is to meet today to discuss whether eligibility for government-funded mpox vaccination should be expanded to include people who have engaged in high-risk sexual behavior within a year and to sexual partners of people who have engaged in high-risk sexual behavior, Guo said.
Four imported cases and 55 local cases of dengue fever were confirmed last week — 54 cases in Tainan and one in Kaohsiung — Guo said, adding that 43 percent of the cases are people aged 60 or older.
This year’s dengue cases were reported earlier than in previous years and cases have topped 50 per week, so the CDC expects case numbers to be above average this year, Lo said.
Tainan and Kaohsiung, as well as Pingtung County usually have the highest infection risk in Taiwan, as Aedes aegypti mosquitos, the principal vector of dengue, are most common in those regions, he said.
However, the mosquito is also in other areas and as overseas and domestic travel is more common in summer, there is infection risk throughout Taiwan, he said.
Elderly people are at higher risk of serious complications from dengue infection, so they should be especially vigilant for symptoms of severe dengue, including belly pain or tenderness, continuous vomiting, bleeding from the nose or gums, sleepiness or irritability, he said.
To increasing the efficiency of diagnosis and to simplify administrative procedures, people in Tainan’s Rende (仁德) and East (東區) districts who test positive for dengue with an NS1 rapid test can be directly diagnosed to have the disease, without needing to undergo a polymerase chain reaction or antibody test, the CDC said.
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