Taiwan's flu epidemic expected to end in March: CDC

Taipei, March. 4 (CAN) The ongoing influenza epidemic in Taiwan is expected to end by mid-to-late March, as cases of influenza-like illness have been declining for three consecutive weeks, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said Tuesday.

A total of 115,182 outpatient and emergency visits due to flu-like illness were reported across Taiwan from Feb. 23 to March 1, indicating a downward trend but still an ongoing epidemic, said Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳), deputy director of the CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center, at a regular news briefing.

From Feb. 24 to March 3, 13 deaths and 64 cases with severe flu-related complications were recorded, Lee said.

Since the start of the flu epidemic on Oct. 1 last year, 1,063 severe cases and 217 deaths have been reported, Lee added.

CDC Deputy Director-General Tseng Shu-huai (曾淑慧) said that despite a 17 percent drop in medical visits for flu-like illnesses last week compared to the previous week (138,875 cases), the flu epidemic is expected to continue until mid-to-late March.

The number of cases reported last week marked the third consecutive week of decline from the peak of the current flu epidemic, which saw 185,828 cases reported from Feb. 2 to Feb. 8, according to CDC data.

Due to ongoing transmission risks and the high number of severe cases, Tseng said the expanded eligibility for government-funded antiviral drugs for influenza -- covering individuals with symptoms who have household members, coworkers, or classmates with similar symptoms -- has been extended until March 31.

Of the 100,000 additional government-funded influenza vaccine doses purchased in response to a post-Lunar New Year surge in demand, only around 10,000 jabs remained as of Tuesday, Tseng said.

Those additional doses, distributed on Feb. 20, were procured by the government amid soaring demand over the Lunar New Year holiday following the flu-related death of actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) at the age of 48 on Feb. 2.

Meanwhile, 275,238 individuals sought medical attention for diarrhea last week, down 10.8 percent from the previous week's 308,626 cases, CDC data showed.

During a Monday news conference on emergency room overcrowding issue, CDC Deputy Director-General Lo Yi-chun (羅一鈞) said there was no rebound in ER visits due to diarrhea during the three-day Feb 28 long weekend, suggesting that the norovirus-related diarrhea outbreak is under control and continuing to decline.