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TAIPEI -- The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) confirmed yesterday four new deaths caused by complications from an influenza infection, bringing the total number of people who died from flu-related complications to 24 since last July.
The youngest victim was a 10-month-old baby girl from New Taipei, northern Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Chou Jih-haw said.
Chou said the infant had received a flu vaccination late last year. He added, however, according to her family, she was ill in early January and diagnosed with influenza and the patient died of heart failure three days after being taken to a hospital for medical treatment.
Chou pointed out that the infant had been diagnosed with Kawasaki Disease last November, an acute febrile vasculitic syndrome of early childhood, before receiving medical treatment for the disease and was given a flu vaccination after the treatment.
The CDC is presently probing how the baby girl was infected with the flu virus, he added.
According to the CDC, the other three people that died had not been inoculated against flu. The three victims ? a 73-year-old female resident of Miaoli County, a 52-year-old man from Kaohsiung and a 85-year-old woman from Kaohsiung ? all had a history of suffering from chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and liver cirrhosis, the CDC said.
Since last July, the number of confirmed cases of flu-related complications has increased to 523, lower than 790 recorded in the same period of the previous year, the CDC said. Flu type B was the culprit in most of the cases, it noted.
The youngest victim was a 10-month-old baby girl from New Taipei, northern Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Chou Jih-haw said.
Chou said the infant had received a flu vaccination late last year. He added, however, according to her family, she was ill in early January and diagnosed with influenza and the patient died of heart failure three days after being taken to a hospital for medical treatment.
Chou pointed out that the infant had been diagnosed with Kawasaki Disease last November, an acute febrile vasculitic syndrome of early childhood, before receiving medical treatment for the disease and was given a flu vaccination after the treatment.
The CDC is presently probing how the baby girl was infected with the flu virus, he added.
According to the CDC, the other three people that died had not been inoculated against flu. The three victims ? a 73-year-old female resident of Miaoli County, a 52-year-old man from Kaohsiung and a 85-year-old woman from Kaohsiung ? all had a history of suffering from chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and liver cirrhosis, the CDC said.
Since last July, the number of confirmed cases of flu-related complications has increased to 523, lower than 790 recorded in the same period of the previous year, the CDC said. Flu type B was the culprit in most of the cases, it noted.
