Nearly 140,000 people sought medical assistance for diarrhea last week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said on Tuesday.
From April 7 to Saturday last week, 139,848 people sought medical help for diarrhea-related illness, a 15.7 percent increase from last week’s 120,868 reports, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said.
The number of people who reported diarrhea-related illness last week was the fourth highest in the same time period over the past decade, Lee said.
Photo: CNA
Over the past four weeks, 203 mass illness cases had been reported, nearly four times higher than the 54 cases documented in the same period last year, she said, adding that 56 of the recent cases tested positive for viral infections, 45 of which were norovirus.
Due to the highly infectious nature of norovirus, people should be aware of food and personal hygiene, CDC Deputy Director-General Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑慧) said.
People who experience diarrhea should wait at least 48 hours after symptoms subside to return to work or school, Tseng said.
Several people tested in three major diarrhea-related community cases last week tested positive for norovirus, she said.
Over the weekend, more than 40 residents of Xishan Borough (溪山) in Taipei’s Shilin District (士林) reported symptoms of stomach flu, three of whom tested positive for norovirus, she said.
Three diners at Kura Sushi (亞洲藏壽司) restaurants — branches of which have recently failed hygiene inspections after reports of food poisoning — were found to have been infected by norovirus after dining at the franchise’s outlets in New Taipei City’s Tamsui (淡水) and Sinjhuang (新莊) districts, the CDC said.
Two people who had eaten at Wowprime Corp’s (王品集團) Korean cuisine restaurant Truewow (初瓦) and hotpot restaurant Xiang La Spicy Hotpot’s (嚮辣和牛麻辣鍋) Taipei MRT Ximen Branch, which are next to each other, were also determined to have contracted norovirus, it said.
Additionally, two Wowprime employees and a person who works in the kitchen area of one of the branches were found to have been infected by the virus, it said.
Further tests are being conducted on samples collected from people in the three cluster infections, Tseng said, adding that tests to determine other food poisoning sources are under way.
In other news, the flu season has shown signs of abating, as the number of influenza cases reported from April 7 to Saturday last week fell, with 86,000 people with influenza-like symptoms visiting outpatient healthcare providers or emergency rooms, Lee said.
However, from Tuesday last week to Monday, 26 cases of severe influenza were recorded, including an unvaccinated seven-year-old girl from northern Taiwan with no underlying health conditions who has been intubated.
Early this month, the girl developed a cough with phlegm, a runny nose and a fever of nearly 40°C, before experiencing abdominal pain and vomiting three days later, CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said.
The girl was diagnosed with influenza A and a computed tomography scan of her head revealed brain swelling, Lin said.
The child was diagnosed with influenza-associated encephalopathy or encephalitis and is in an intensive care unit, Lin said.
Three flu-related fatalities were also reported during the period.
The youngest was a man in his 40s from northern Taiwan who had multiple chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, heart problems and obesity, the CDC said, adding that he did not receive this season’s influenza vaccine shot.
From March 31 to April 6, 16 cases of severe influenza were recorded.
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