Flu visits fall 10% over long weekend, likely due to clinic closures: CDC

Taipei, Oct. 14 (CNA) Taiwan recorded fewer than 138,000 influenza-related medical visits last week, down about 10 percent from over 150,000 the week before, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said Tuesday, citing clinic closures over the long weekend as the likely cause.

"The domestic influenza situation remains at epidemic levels," CDC spokesperson Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑慧) said at a regular news briefing in Taipei, noting that a total of 137,988 outpatient and emergency visits due to influenza were reported nationwide from Oct. 5 to Oct. 11.

Taiwan last week observed two public holidays -- the Mid-Autumn Festival on Oct. 6 (Monday) and National Day on Oct. 10 (Friday).

The roughly 10 percent decrease from the previous week's total was likely due to the consecutive holidays, Tseng said.

"Because some clinics and medical facilities were closed during the long weekend, last week's number of visits was somewhat lower than the week before," she explained.

A total of 75 severe influenza cases were recorded last week, involving patients from under 10 to their 90s, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said at the briefing.

"The predominant subtype among the severe cases was H3N2, and none of the patients had received a flu shot, while around 80 percent had underlying chronic conditions," Lee said.

Among the 10 fatalities, the patients ranged in age from their 50s to over 90. All were unvaccinated, and nine had chronic illnesses, Lee said.

Tseng urged eligible high-risk groups to get vaccinated as soon as possible, saying that since the free program began on Oct. 1, nearly 2.12 million doses have been administered -- the highest for the same period in five years and 1.35 times the 1.57 million recorded a year earlier.

According to the CDC, 6.66 million flu vaccine doses were initially procured for this flu season. To meet strong public demand and given the persistently high influenza risk, the agency said in a news release that it will purchase an additional 200,000 doses, bringing the total to 6.86 million.

Separately, CDC officials reported a new locally transmitted dengue fever case in the southern port city of Kaohsiung.

CDC physician Tsou Tsung-pei (鄒宗珮) said the Kaohsiung case involves a 32-year-old woman who began exhibiting typical dengue symptoms on Oct. 7, including fever, muscle aches and fatigue.

When the patient sought care, physicians tested her immediately, confirmed dengue and admitted her for isolation, Tsou said, adding that she remains hospitalized in stable condition.

Contact tracing and expanded community testing found no signs of further spread, with all contacts and screened individuals testing negative for dengue, according to the CDC.