Lin Yongqing (right), an epidemic prevention physician of the CDC, said that when a 2-year-old boy was infected with influenza, he developed a high fever of over 40 degrees, followed by changes in consciousness, convulsions, and eventually died of influenza complicated by encephalitis.
[Reporter Hou Jiayu/Taipei Report] During the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, the influenza epidemic is still at a high point and is still in the epidemic period. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced today that there were 87 new severe cases of influenza and 30 deaths last week, including a 2-year-old boy who contracted influenza and died of encephalitis. There were 138,654 outpatient and emergency visits last week, a 3.2% decrease from the previous week. Deputy Director Lin Mingcheng said that the influenza epidemic is expected to begin to decline in mid-October, and the number of doctor visits during this period will fluctuate between 130,000 and 160,000.
Epidemic prevention physician Lin Yongqing said that recently a 2-year-old boy from central China had no chronic diseases and had not received this season's influenza vaccine. In early September, he developed symptoms such as a high fever of over 40 degrees Celsius and a cough with sputum. After seeking medical treatment, he was diagnosed with type A influenza and received oral antiviral medication. However, he still had high fever after returning home, and developed changes in consciousness and convulsions the next day. He was urgently sent to the hospital. The examination revealed that the boy had cerebral edema. The doctor judged that it might be influenza complicated by encephalitis, and he was admitted to the intensive care unit for treatment. However, his condition continued to worsen, and his brain images even showed ischemic changes. He died in late September after being hospitalized for nearly 2 weeks. The death certificate showed that the main cause of death was type A influenza complicated by acute encephalitis. The epidemic investigation also found that the boy's three contacts who lived together developed similar symptoms at the same time, and were subsequently diagnosed with influenza and received antiviral treatment.
Li Jialin, deputy director of the Epidemic Center, pointed out that the COVID-19 epidemic is showing a downward trend and is still in the epidemic period. Last week, there were 33 new local severe cases and 14 local deaths. There were 10,502 outpatient and emergency visits, a decrease of 28.4% from the previous week. Lin Yongqing pointed out that a man in his 40s in central China suffered from chronic diseases such as diabetes. In mid-September, his symptoms worsened, and he developed difficulty breathing and increased sputum. After seeking medical treatment, he was diagnosed with COVID-19 through a quick screening. X-rays also revealed bilateral pneumonia. He was admitted to the intensive care unit and received antibiotics and antiviral treatment. However, his blood oxygen continued to be low, and he subsequently developed respiratory failure. He died in late September after being hospitalized for about 5 days.
Lin Mingcheng added that the recent downward trend in the epidemic is mainly affected by the "continuous holiday effect". Due to the increase in travel between the north and the south and the increase in group gatherings during the consecutive holidays, this will contribute to the upward trend of the epidemic. However, at the same time, due to the delay in seeking medical treatment by some people during the consecutive holidays, or even mild symptoms recovering on their own, the two opposing forces have caused the epidemic data to fluctuate up and down.
In addition, the enterovirus epidemic remained flat, with 9,943 outpatient and emergency visits last week, a decrease of 5.6% from the previous week. There were 7 severe cases this year, down from 17 cases in the same period last year. The diarrhea epidemic also remained unchanged, with 118,559 outpatient and emergency visits last week, a decrease of 7.4%.
