Gert van der Hoek
In Memoriam - Editor, Senior Moderator
Taiwan confirms 10-year-old boy as 6th A (H1N1) death
Taiwan News, Staff Writer
2009-09-03 06:05 PM
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) ? A ten-year-old boy died of the A (H1N1) swine flu to become Taiwan?s sixth death from the virus Thursday, as the total number of hospitalized patients broke through the 100 mark, the Central Epidemics Command Center said.
The boy from Tungshih in Taichung County was taken to the Veterans? General Hospital in Taichung City on August 26, but died Thursday afternoon, local health authorities said. He was diagnosed with pneumonia as well as the swine flu virus, and died after his blood pressure fell sharply. The boy apparently had been receiving education at a special care center since the age of two, they said.
The center announced nine new hospitalizations Thursday, bringing the total to 104. Of those, 41 were still staying in hospital, including a 34-year-old man who first entered care almost two months ago, on July 10, the center said.
?According to past experience, the highest point will arrive in January,? said Steve Kuo, the director-general of the Centers for Disease Control. He added that it was difficult to predict whether it would come earlier or later with the swine flu virus.
The age groups represented in the hospitalized cases included patients aged from 25 to 49, infants from one to six years of age, and children from seven to 12, Kuo said. Those three age groups formed three fourths of all hospitalized swine flu patients.
The past week saw children of eight months old and between one and two years of age added to the list, while the new school year started last Monday amid fears that the number of cluster infections would increase significantly.
Vaccines against A (H1N1) will become available in November. Combining them with vaccines against the common flu will not increase risks, Kuo said. Groups like pregnant women, children and medical staff will be the priority targets for the new swine flu vaccines, officials have said.
The size of the threat posed by the virus turned into the subject of a war of words between previous Department of Health ministers Thursday.
Earlier, Chen Chien-jen, who served as minister in the administration of former President Chen Shui-bian, said close to 7,000 people might die of the virus in Taiwan. Former minister Steve Chan, who is close to President Ma Ying-jeou, reportedly said government officials should not make exaggerated statements once their party was out of power.
Chan remarked that even the common flu made about 5,000 victims a year in Taiwan, so the amounts predicted for the swine flu were not as scary as they looked.
A survey by the 1111 Job Bank showed 72 percent of respondents afraid of the swine flu, while giving an unsatisfactory 46-point rating to the government?s prevention efforts.
http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news...=958.jpg&cate_rss=news_editors_choices_TAIWAN
Taiwan News, Staff Writer
2009-09-03 06:05 PM
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) ? A ten-year-old boy died of the A (H1N1) swine flu to become Taiwan?s sixth death from the virus Thursday, as the total number of hospitalized patients broke through the 100 mark, the Central Epidemics Command Center said.
The boy from Tungshih in Taichung County was taken to the Veterans? General Hospital in Taichung City on August 26, but died Thursday afternoon, local health authorities said. He was diagnosed with pneumonia as well as the swine flu virus, and died after his blood pressure fell sharply. The boy apparently had been receiving education at a special care center since the age of two, they said.
The center announced nine new hospitalizations Thursday, bringing the total to 104. Of those, 41 were still staying in hospital, including a 34-year-old man who first entered care almost two months ago, on July 10, the center said.
?According to past experience, the highest point will arrive in January,? said Steve Kuo, the director-general of the Centers for Disease Control. He added that it was difficult to predict whether it would come earlier or later with the swine flu virus.
The age groups represented in the hospitalized cases included patients aged from 25 to 49, infants from one to six years of age, and children from seven to 12, Kuo said. Those three age groups formed three fourths of all hospitalized swine flu patients.
The past week saw children of eight months old and between one and two years of age added to the list, while the new school year started last Monday amid fears that the number of cluster infections would increase significantly.
Vaccines against A (H1N1) will become available in November. Combining them with vaccines against the common flu will not increase risks, Kuo said. Groups like pregnant women, children and medical staff will be the priority targets for the new swine flu vaccines, officials have said.
The size of the threat posed by the virus turned into the subject of a war of words between previous Department of Health ministers Thursday.
Earlier, Chen Chien-jen, who served as minister in the administration of former President Chen Shui-bian, said close to 7,000 people might die of the virus in Taiwan. Former minister Steve Chan, who is close to President Ma Ying-jeou, reportedly said government officials should not make exaggerated statements once their party was out of power.
Chan remarked that even the common flu made about 5,000 victims a year in Taiwan, so the amounts predicted for the swine flu were not as scary as they looked.
A survey by the 1111 Job Bank showed 72 percent of respondents afraid of the swine flu, while giving an unsatisfactory 46-point rating to the government?s prevention efforts.
http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news...=958.jpg&cate_rss=news_editors_choices_TAIWAN