Li Jialin, deputy director of the Epidemic Center of the CDC, explained the isolation of respiratory viruses in the laboratory.

(Photo by reporter Lin Huiqin)

[Reporter Lin Huiqin/Report from Taipei] The flu epidemic in China has not yet seen a downward trend. The CDC of the Ministry of Health and Welfare stated that there were 2 new cases of severe flu and 2 deaths from flu last week, both of whom were over 50 years old.

Li Jialin, deputy director of the Epidemic Center of the CDC, said that the current flu epidemic has not seen a significant decline, and it is estimated that it will remain flat in the next week, and people still need to take preventive measures.

Li Jialin pointed out that last week, there were 47,009 outpatient and emergency visits to influenza-like patients, and the recent trend has remained the same. In the past four weeks, contracted laboratories have isolated respiratory viruses with influenza virus being the most common, followed by adenovirus and herpes simplex virus. Type A H3N2 is dominant, indicating that respiratory viruses such as influenza are still active in the community.

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Last week, there were 2 new cases of severe influenza. Both were males in their 60s with a medical history of chronic lung disease. None of them had been vaccinated against this season's influenza. The onset dates were between March 14 and March 19 this year. , A unclassified.

At the same time, 2 new influenza deaths were added. They were infected with H3N2 and H1N1 respectively. They both lived in the north and had not been vaccinated against this season's influenza. They had a history of chronic diseases such as diabetes and neuromuscular diseases.

Lin Yongqing, an epidemic prevention doctor of the CDC, further explained that one of the cases was a man in his 50s. He started to have a fever and headache in late February. Five days later, he showed signs of danger and went to the emergency room. Secondary bacterial infection, follow-up treatment was ineffective and died; another case was a woman in her 80s who developed cough and wheezing in late February, and was hospitalized immediately. Declared dead.

Lin Yongqing reminded that it is still the season when influenza and other respiratory diseases are prone to occur. People should not ignore the threat of influenza. They must wash their hands frequently, wear masks, and rest at home when they are sick. If you have flu-like symptoms such as fever and cough, you should pay attention to whether you have difficulty breathing or shortness of breath. , cyanosis (hypoxia) and other dangerous signs, you can wear a mask to see a doctor as soon as possible, especially the elderly over 65 years old, infants, high-risk chronic patients and pregnant women and other high-risk groups of influenza, pay special attention to their own health.

He also reminded doctors that if a patient meets the conditions for using public-funded influenza antiviral drugs, they can prescribe public-funded drugs without rapid influenza screening to reduce the risk of severe illness.

Since the beginning of this flu season on October 1 last year, there have been a total of 64 cases of severe influenza (52 cases of type A H3N2, 6 cases of type A H1N1, 2 cases of untyped A, and 4 cases of type B), 39% of whom were over 65 years old 92% had not been vaccinated against this season's influenza, and 77% had a history of chronic diseases; 13 of them died (11 cases of H3N2, 1 case of H1N1, and 1 case of type B), all of whom had a history of chronic diseases and had not been vaccinated against this season's influenza vaccine.