Taiwan reports highest number of influenza-like illnesses in 10 years

Taipei, Jan. 14 (CNA) The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) on Tuesday said there were around 139,000 visits to emergency departments and outpatient clinics for influenza-like illnesses (ILI) last week, the highest number for the same period in the past 10 flu seasons.

At a regular news briefing, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Kuo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said the numbers were recorded from Jan. 5 to Jan. 11.

Kuo added that 10 influenza-related deaths were recorded from Jan. 7 to Monday, including a teenage boy from southern Taiwan who had not received the flu vaccine for the current season.

With the rising number of ILI cases, CDC Deputy Director-General Tseng Shu-huai (曾淑慧) said the flu epidemic is expected to peak around the Lunar New Year in late January, with weekly visits to emergency departments and outpatient clinics potentially exceeding 150,000.

Tseng urged the public to get flu jabs as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, the CDC reported Taiwan's youngest ever severe COVID-19 case since the onset of the pandemic around five years ago, concerning a premature baby girl younger than six months old who is still under observation in the intensive care unit (ICU).

From Jan. 7 to Monday, 10 domestic severe COVID-19 cases were recorded, down from 15 cases reported the previous week, according to a CDC news release.

Among those 10 new cases reported last week was a premature baby from southern Taiwan, who developed swelling in both legs -- an atypical symptom of COVID-19 -- in early January and was found to have a fever and shortness of breath after admission to the emergency department, CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said at the news conference.

"After undergoing a rapid COVID-19 test, which confirmed the infection, she was admitted to the ICU," Lin said, adding that the infant was not eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine due to her young age of under six months old.

He noted that the baby girl, Taiwan's youngest severe COVID-19 case, has been hospitalized for nearly a week as of Tuesday, with her condition becoming relatively stable but still requiring ICU care.

Regarding the transmission, Lin said that the infant was cared for by family members, none of whom exhibited COVID-19 symptoms.

However, he noted that while all of the household contacts had been vaccinated against COVID-19, they had not received the latest vaccine targeting the JN.1 subvariant of the disease.

As infants under six months old are ineligible for vaccination, Lin urged those living with infants or other high-risk individuals, such as the elderly or patients with chronic diseases, to get a COVID-19 vaccine to "minimize the risk of cross-infection."