Influenza claimed 8 lives last week, including a 3-year-old: CDC

Taipei, Jan. 30 (CNA) More than 110,000 cases of influenza-like illness were reported last week, along with eight fatalities, including the death of a 3-year-old girl, the youngest this year, who succumbed to complications from encephalitis associated with influenza A, Taiwan's Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said Tuesday.

A total of 114,754 people with influenza-like symptoms visited the doctor last week, as recorded by the CDC. While showing a slight decrease from the previous week, the numbers remained higher than those during the same period over the past three years, marking the third-highest incidence for this period in the past decade.

From Jan. 23 to Jan. 29, a total of 40 new cases of severe influenza were reported, with patients ranging in age from under 10 years old to over 90 years old. Of these cases, 27 individuals were infected with H3N2, and 30 had not received the influenza vaccine, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Kuo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said.

Of the eight fatalities caused by the flu, six were infected with H3N2, and seven had not received a flu shot.

Liu Yu-cheng (劉裕誠), a CDC epidemic prevention doctor, provided further details on the death of the 3-year-old, stating that the girl was from an outlying island, had not received the seasonal influenza vaccine, and had no history of chronic illness.

"In early January, she presented with respiratory symptoms and a high fever. Following hospital admission, she was diagnosed with influenza A and subsequently transferred to an intensive care unit for additional treatment," Liu said.

"Her condition continued to deteriorate, resulting in her passing away in late January, with the cause of death listed as influenza related encephalitis, resulting in respiratory failure," Liu explained, noting that the duration from the onset of symptoms to the girl's death was approximately three weeks.

CDC Deputy Director General Lo Yi-chun (羅一鈞) said cases of influenza-like illnesses have reached a plateau, but the number is expected to rise this week due to the cold front last week, as "people may want to seek medical attention when the weather warms up."

During the current flu season, there have been 405 recorded severe cases of influenza from Oct. 1 last year to Jan. 29 this year; of those, 85 percent had not received the influenza vaccine, with 59 percent being seniors aged 65 or above. Of the 63 reported deaths, 89 percent had not received the vaccine.

The CDC announced that starting from February 5, eligibility for free COVID-19 home test kits will be extended to individuals aged 50 and above who have received government-sponsored vaccine shots for influenza, COVID-19, or pneumococcus, as part of an effort to enhance influenza vaccination rates.

For every dose administered, recipients will be entitled to receive 10 home test kits, according to the CDC.

Regarding the needs of patients with respiratory symptoms during the Lunar New Year, the CDC also stated that special outpatient clinics will be open in 157 hospitals from the first to the third day of the Lunar New Year, offering approximately 1,165 medical consultations.