From left, Director of the CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Guo Hongwei, CDC Deputy Director Lin Mingcheng, and CDC Doctor Lin Yongqing attend a press conference in Taipei yesterday. Photo: CNA
By Li Yijia/Staff Reporter
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention yesterday announced the first case of localized typhoid fever this year, noting that although cases of influenza-like illnesses, including COVID-19, fell slightly last week, the number of cases and deaths remains high.
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Dr. Lin Yongqing of the Department of Disease Control and Prevention said that the typhoid fever case was a woman in her 30s living in central Taiwan.
The woman developed symptoms including fever, vomiting and diarrhea in late August, Lam said.
She sought medical treatment and took medication to relieve her symptoms, but fever, headache and body aches developed again early last month, Lam said.
The woman again sought medical attention and was hospitalized, he said, adding that blood culture tests confirmed she had contracted typhoid fever.
The woman recovered about a week after being hospitalized, he said, adding that she reported eating raw seafood, including sashimi and oysters, during the incubation period.
Lin Yongqing said Taiwan usually only has about two to three local cases of typhoid fever each year.
Typhoid fever is an intestinal infection caused by Salmonella typhi, with an incubation period of approximately eight to 14 days.
Typhoid is spread through contaminated food and water, so sashimi, oysters and clams are high-risk foods, said Lam, adding that people should practice good hand and food hygiene, such as drinking only boiled or bottled water when traveling in areas with poor public health and hygiene.
Common symptoms include persistent fever, headache, fatigue, loss of appetite, abdominal pain, diarrhea, relative bradycardia and, in some cases, a rash on the chest and lower abdomen, he said.
Because early symptoms of typhoid fever are highly nonspecific, it is often misdiagnosed as gastroenteritis or other illnesses, he added.
Meanwhile, Guo Hongwei, director of the Epidemic Intelligence Center of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said there were 139,060 doctor visits for influenza-like illness and 7,836 doctor visits for COVID-19 last week, both slightly lower than the previous week.
However, both are still in the epidemic period, Guo Hongwei said.
There were 219 severe flu cases and 44 flu-related deaths last week, as well as 37 severe coronavirus cases and 16 deaths, he said.
One of the COVID-19 deaths was a man in his 60s who suffered from liver cirrhosis and received the last dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in 2022, Lin Yongqing said.
The man developed fever, cough and general weakness in the middle of last month and took the medication without consulting a doctor, Lam said.
When his symptoms worsened, including difficulty breathing, he was hospitalized and died ten days later, Lam said.
Contact tracing found that people he lived with had similar symptoms last month, but they were not tested for the coronavirus and recovered, he said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls on high-risk groups to get vaccinated and seek medical care promptly if they develop suspected symptoms to prevent severe illness or death from influenza or the new coronavirus.
Shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, bruising - blue or purple discoloration of the skin, lips or mucous membranes - bloody sputum, chest pain, changes in consciousness and low blood pressure may be signs of serious complications, the agency said.
Lin Mingcheng, deputy director of the Department of Disease Control and Prevention, said influenza activity is expected to fluctuate slightly this month and the epidemic period may end next month.
People should still practice good hand hygiene and cough etiquette to prevent contracting and spreading the virus, he said.
News source: Taipei Times
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