The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is to strengthen latent tuberculosis (TB) screening and treatment programs aimed at eradicating the disease by 2035, it said yesterday at an event held ahead of World TB Day tomorrow.
Last year, the incidence of TB in Taiwan was 28 new cases per 100,000 people, down 62 percent from 73 new cases per 100,000 people in 2005, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Chou Jih-haw (周志浩) told the event at Taipei Railway Station.
Health officials are urged to be vigilant in managing people known to be infected with TB, be thorough in conducting contact tracing and give particular attention to detecting suspected latent TB infections, he said.
Photo: CNA
The community spread of TB is best contained before the infected person shows symptoms, Chou said.
About 6,000 new TB cases are reported in the nation each year, CDC Deputy Director-General Tseng Shu-huai (曾淑慧) said.
The CDC is rolling out a TB screening program in collaboration with hospitals for high-risk groups, including people with poorly managed diabetes and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or who are undergoing dialysis, she said.
The program aims to screen 15,000 people by the end of the year, Tseng said.
During the height of the TB pandemic, the disease was known to kill up to seven people every day in Europe and the Americas, a situation not remedied until Robert Koch on March 24, 1882, discovered Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the germ that causes TB, she said.
Entertainer Chiang Tsu-ping (江祖平), who the CDC named as spokesperson for TB prevention, said that she had thought TB was an extinct disease from the history books, not an epidemic actively threatening the well-being of Taiwanese.
People in contact with a known TB case are urged to get screened as soon as possible to protect themselves and their loved ones, she said.
Latent TB infections have a 5 to 10 percent chance of becoming symptomatic, especially during periods of compromised immunity, Taiwan Society of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases chairman Wang Jann-yuan (王振源) said.
People should keep their homes well-aerated and lead a healthy lifestyle, while those diagnosed with TB should seek medical attention immediately, Wang said, adding that treatment can reduce infectiousness within two weeks.
TRAGEDY: An expert said that the incident was uncommon as the chance of a ground crew member being sucked into an IDF engine was ‘minuscule’ A master sergeant yesterday morning died after she was sucked into an engine during a routine inspection of a fighter jet at an air base in Taichung, the Air Force Command Headquarters said. The officer, surnamed Hu (胡), was conducting final landing checks at Ching Chuan Kang (清泉崗) Air Base when she was pulled into the jet’s engine for unknown reasons, the air force said in a news release. She was transported to a hospital for emergency treatment, but could not be revived, it said. The air force expressed its deepest sympathies over the incident, and vowed to work with authorities as they
A tourist who was struck and injured by a train in a scenic area of New Taipei City’s Pingsi District (平溪) on Monday might be fined for trespassing on the tracks, the Railway Police Bureau said yesterday. The New Taipei City Fire Department said it received a call at 4:37pm on Monday about an incident in Shifen (十分), a tourist destination on the Pingsi Railway Line. After arriving on the scene, paramedics treated a woman in her 30s for a 3cm to 5cm laceration on her head, the department said. She was taken to a hospital in Keelung, it said. Surveillance footage from a
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
RSS