The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) on Tuesday announced the nation’s first death from mpox in an unvaccinated man from northern Taiwan who had undiagnosed AIDS.
The man in his 30s began developing skin ulcers in August, but waited until Sept. 11 to seek treatment, CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said.
By that time his immune response had already weakened severely and his entire body was covered in infected lesions, Lin said.
Photo: Lin Hui-chin, Taipei Times
Testing revealed that the man also had AIDS, which had previously gone undiagnosed, he said.
Despite receiving antiviral therapy and multiple surgeries, his immune response continued to weaken, Lin said, adding that his condition deteriorated on Oct. 22 before he passed away on Wednesday last week.
To date, 355 cases of mpox have been diagnosed in Taiwan, 338 of which were domestically transmitted and 17 imported, CDC data showed.
Of them, 343 have fully recovered, while 12 are convalescing at home.
A total of 108,860 mpox vaccines have been administered, with 39,558 people having received two doses and 29,744 having received one dose, data showed.
Vaccines are still available at 155 medical institutions nationwide, the CDC said, encouraging those at risk who remain unvaccinated to make an appointment.
The international mpox outbreak has continued, with the western Pacific and Southeast Asia seeing spikes starting from July, the CDC said.
There have also been signs of a resurgence in Europe starting in September, and cases continue to steadily climb in the Americas, it added.
Although most cases are mild, those with pre-existing conditions run the risk of developing severe symptoms such as sepsis and encephalitis that could lead to death, the CDC said.
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
Prosecutors today declined to say who was questioned regarding alleged forgery on petitions to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, after Chinese-language media earlier reported that members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Youth League were brought in for questioning. The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau confirmed that two people had been questioned, but did not disclose any further information about the ongoing investigation. KMT Youth League members Lee Hsiao-liang (李孝亮) and Liu Szu-yin (劉思吟) — who are leading the effort to recall DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) and Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) — both posted on Facebook saying: “I
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 today amid outcry over his decision to wear a Nazi armband to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case last night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and covering the book with his coat. Lee said today that this is a serious
A mountain blaze that broke out yesterday morning in Yangmingshan National Park was put out after five hours, following multi agency efforts involving dozens of fire trucks and helicopter water drops. The fire might have been sparked by an air quality sensor operated by the National Center for High-Performance Computing, one of the national-level laboratories under the National Applied Research Laboratories, Yangmingshan National Park Headquarters said. The Taipei City Fire Department said the fire, which broke out at about 11am yesterday near the mountainous Xiaoyoukeng (小油坑) Recreation Area was extinguished at 4:32pm. It had initially dispatched 72 personnel in four command vehicles, 16
RSS