Diarrhea cases rise for fifth week in a row in Taiwan: CDC

Taipei, Sept. 3 (CNA) The number of patients with diarrhea visiting emergency and outpatient departments in Taiwan increased for five consecutive weeks as of Aug. 31, while that of reported diarrhea clusters reached its highest for the same period in five years, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said Tuesday.

A total of 129,536 individuals with diarrhea visited emergency and outpatient departments from Aug. 25-31, up 1.3 percent from the previous week, Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳), deputy director of the CDC's Epidemic Intelligence Center, said at a news conference.

The number is higher than in the same period from 2019 to 2022 but lower than that last year, and the overall trend has risen over the past five weeks, according to Lee.

Lee pointed out that a total of 98 diarrhea clusters were reported in the past four weeks, higher than the number reported during the same period from 2019 to 2023 with most of the cases connected to restaurants, catering and food services and hotels.

Of the 98 diarrhea clusters, 48 tested positive for pathogens, with the most prevalent detected pathogen being norovirus (29 cases, accounting for 60.4 percent), followed by Vibrio enteritidis (14 cases, 29.2 percent), Lee said.

CDC Deputy Director-General Lo Yi-chun (羅一鈞) said that in previous years, diarrhea cases peaked around the Mid-Autumn Festival which falls on Sept. 17 this year. It remains to be seen whether cases will fall later this month.

To prevent diarrhea, the CDC urged member of the public to wash their hands with soap and water frequently and pay attention to dietary and personal hygiene.