Another 125 domestically acquired dengue fever cases were reported last week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, urging people to remove standing water to prevent mosquitoes from breeding.
The new local cases include 104 in Tainan, 13 in Yunlin County, seven in Kaohsiung and one in Pingtung County, in addition to seven imported cases confirmed in travelers from southeast Asian nations, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said.
A total of 358 dengue fever cases have been reported this year, including 298 local cases, he said, adding that 44 percent of the local cases are aged 60 or older, which is higher than the average of 26 percent between 2014 and last year.
Photo courtesy of the Tainan Public Health Bureau
Of the 104 new cases in Tainan, 44 live in Rende District (仁德), 30 in East District (東區), 20 in Yongkang District (永康) and there were sporadic cases in six other districts, Guo said, adding that the outbreak in the city is gradually expanding.
Gou said that 13 new cases were reported near Yunlin County’s Gukeng Township (古坑) last week — 11 in Gukeng and two in Douliou City (斗六).
CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said two severe cases were confirmed last week in a man in Yunlin and a woman in Tainan, both in their 80s who have underlying health conditions.
The man had pneumonia and was hospitalized in a general ward, while the woman experienced unconsciousness, septic shock and abnormal liver function and was admitted to an intensive care unit, Lin said.
He said elderly people and those with underlying health conditions should seek immediate medical attention for severe dengue fever symptoms that include drowsiness, irritability, stomach pain, repeated vomiting and bleeding from the nose or gums.
National Chung Hsing University entomology professor Tu Wu-chun (杜武俊) said dengue fever is transmitted mainly by bites from Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes in Taiwan, so clearing breeding grounds and killing mosquitoes are the most effective ways to prevent the disease.
Aedes aegypti is a tropical mosquito, so it is found to the south of Chiayi County’s Budai Township (布袋). They often stay in indoor areas and breed in standing water, such as in empty containers in bathrooms, so they can easily cause family cluster infections within a household, he said.
Aedes albopictus are not limited to tropical areas and have been found as high as 1,900m above sea level, so they can be found nearly anywhere in the nation, he said.
Although they mostly stay outdoors, they sometimes come indoors and the clustered infections in Yunlin County were caused by this, Tu said.
While many people are concerned about bites by Forcipomyia taiwana, a species of biting midge colloquially known as the “small black mosquito,” Tu said it is not a mosquito and there is no scientific evidence that it can transmit disease.
People need to prevent mosquito bites in indoor and outdoor environments, and as both types of insects bite during the day, people should place bug zappers in dark corners of their home during the day.
Moreover, as the number of mosquitoes increased in May and local dengue cases were reported as early as last month, if everyone does not act quickly to remove standing water, the dengue fever outbreak this year could become concerning, he said.
Spraying of very low levels of pyrethroid is an effective way to eliminate mosquitoes and residents should leave their homes together with their pets when the spraying occurs, open the windows (preferably wearing an activated carbon mask) at least one hour after the spraying and return home about 20 minutes later, Tu said.
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