Infectious disease experts yesterday raised caution about antibiotic resistance, saying that a bacteria partially responsible for a surge in respiratory illness in China is 60 percent resistant to antibiotics in Taiwan.
On Wednesday, the WHO officially asked China to provide detailed information on an increase in respiratory illnesses.
Chinese authorities attributed the increase to circulation of known pathogens such as influenza, Mycoplasma pneumoniae — a common bacterial infection that typically affects younger children — respiratory syncytial virus and the virus that causes COVID-19, the WHO said.
Photo: CNA
Infectious Diseases Society of Taiwan president Wang Fu-te (王復德) told an event in Taipei that Mycoplasma pneumoniae is an oft-seen infection in Taiwan that occurs year-round.
Zithromax, the antibiotic brand used to treat the infection, is already seeing 60 percent drug resistance in Taiwan, he said.
Hospitals have invested much in personnel and drug costs to combat cancer or in other situations such as surgeries or organ transplants, but drug resistance could reduce the effectiveness of such efforts, he said.
Wang called on the government and academia to jointly work on resolving the issue, suggesting drug management for animals and plants and broader public awareness.
Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Lo Yi-chun (羅一鈞) said that recent monitoring has shown that drug resistance for the Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has dropped, while drug resistances for the Gram-negative bacteria-induced infections have increased.
Lo said these conditions have limited doctors’ ability to prescribe medication, adding that if bacteria develop multiple or broad drug resistance and limit effective drugs to one or two kinds, the day when no antibacterial is available might come soon.
He said the government is working with the Ministry of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration on a five-year antibacterial agent management plan.
Starting in 2025, the government is to begin limiting the use of antibacterial drugs on multiple fronts and launch a campaign to spread awareness of how misuse of antibacterial drugs could build bacterial drug resistance among the public, Lo said.
National Health Insurance Administration Deputy Director-General Lee Cheng-hua (李丞華) said the government urged doctors to provide feedback on drug usage so that plans and restrictions could be implemented to scale back the ease of obtaining antibacterial drugs.
Additional reporting by Reuters
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS