Doctors yesterday urged people in high-risk groups to take preventive measures and get vaccinated against influenza, while people 65 or older should consider getting an adjuvanted flu vaccine, amid a longer-than-typical flu season.
The Lee CY’s Research Foundation for Pediatric Infectious Diseases and Vaccines said that since the mask mandate was mostly lifted in April, flu infections have gradually increased, with more than 300 severe flu complication cases reported in the past six months, adding that the peak season was delayed until spring and summer.
National Taiwan University Children’s Hospital superintendent Huang Li-min (黃立民) said that in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, SARS-CoV-2 had an advantage over other viruses when competing for uninfected cells in the upper respiratory tract, leading to fewer people getting the flu.
Photo: Chiu Chih-jou, Taipei Times
However, after the lifting of three years of pandemic restrictions, more people are getting the flu or other respiratory tract infections.
The peak flu season came earlier in the US and Australia last year, but in Taiwan — where the flu season is usually in autumn and winter, and plateaus in winter — the peak season has been delayed, meaning that people are at risk of flu infections all year, and the situation might continue for two to three years.
People at higher risk of developing severe flu complications — people 65 or older, children and those with chronic medical conditions — should especially take precautionary measures throughout the year and get the seasonal flu vaccination in autumn to prevent infection, Huang said.
Chan Ding-cheng (詹鼎正), director of National Taiwan University Hospital’s Department of Geriatrics and Gerontology, said that among the severe flu complications reported this flu season, about half were in people aged 65 or older, and 87 percent did not get vaccinated.
The risk of developing severe illness in people older than 65 is about sevenfold greater than for those aged 25 to 49, and the fatality rate among people 65 or older with severe flu is 11 times greater than for people aged 25 to 49, he said.
However, only 45.8 percent of people aged 65 or older have received a government-funded flu vaccine, he added.
Moreover, due to immunosenescence — which is the progressive deterioration of the immune system with increasing age — people 65 or older might have weaker (about 50 percent protection) and shorter (effects lasting only about five months) responses to vaccination than younger adults, he said.
Huang said that in the UK and some other countries, people aged 65 or older have the option to receive an adjuvanted flu vaccine, which promotes a better immune response (by about 20 to 30 percent) and might extend the effect for as long as one year.
If it is introduced in Taiwan this year, people aged 65 or older should consider getting the pay-out-of-pocket adjuvanted flu vaccine too, he said.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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