Treyfish
Moderator
Saturday, March 8, 2008
By Dimitri Bruyas, The China Post<H1>Taiwan ready for flu fight: DOH</H1>
TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Health authorities dismissed yesterday alarming reports of a possible flu outbreak, amid concerns that the Hong Kong government announced a day earlier a series of contingency measures ahead of the region's flu season.
The measures recalled action taken during the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic five years ago: arranging public education campaigns, daily accounts of patients, and shortening visiting hours in public hospitals.
Hong Kong-based newspaper the South China Morning Post quoted a Hong Kong health official as saying there was no evidence suggesting a flu season worse than in previous years, but the situation could change.
His statement came five days after the death of a 3-year-old child suffering from Brisbane H3N2 flu -- a type of seasonal flu.
Hundreds of people died in Taiwan during the 2003 SARS epidemic, including some nurses, who contracted the contagious disease after taking care of patients quarantined in Hoping Hospital in Taipei City.
Medical experts said afterwards that the 2003 outbreak originated in Hong Kong, presumably from an infected Chinese man.
"Taiwan's flu season differs from Hong Kong's; it is around Christmas," Lin Ting, deputy director of the Center for Disease Control under the Department of Health (DOH), told The China Post during a telephone interview.
He stressed that the previous flu season only claimed one victim, down from six in 2006, due to the vaccination policy put in place by the DOH.
"A network of about 500 hospitals and clinics systematically reports patients suffering severe flu to the ministry," he added, stressing the DOH is closely monitoring the developments in Hong Kong and China, in conjunction with the Mainland Affairs Council and the Straits Exchange Foundation.
Lin explained that health authorities plan to given up to 320,000 flu vaccines to primary students this year, up from 270,000 in 2007 and 220,000 in 2006.
"Not a single patient has so far contracted avian flu in Taiwan," said Doctor Wong Wing-wai, director of the Division for Disease Control and Prevention under the DOH.
He noted that Taipei City's current warning level against avian flu is 0, the lowest of four -- 0, A1, A2, B.
Although there aren't special precautions to take at the moment against seasonal flu, he went on, children and the elderly would be well advised to wear masks while using public transport, as many people have been travelling around the island on the trail of the upcoming presidential elections.
Large movements of population are considered an important factor in epidemic outbreaks. "If you travel to Hong Kong, you will have to monitor your temperature when you come back," he added.:tiphat: http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/2008/03/08/146120/Taiwan-ready.htm
By Dimitri Bruyas, The China Post<H1>Taiwan ready for flu fight: DOH</H1>
TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Health authorities dismissed yesterday alarming reports of a possible flu outbreak, amid concerns that the Hong Kong government announced a day earlier a series of contingency measures ahead of the region's flu season.
The measures recalled action taken during the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic five years ago: arranging public education campaigns, daily accounts of patients, and shortening visiting hours in public hospitals.
Hong Kong-based newspaper the South China Morning Post quoted a Hong Kong health official as saying there was no evidence suggesting a flu season worse than in previous years, but the situation could change.
His statement came five days after the death of a 3-year-old child suffering from Brisbane H3N2 flu -- a type of seasonal flu.
Hundreds of people died in Taiwan during the 2003 SARS epidemic, including some nurses, who contracted the contagious disease after taking care of patients quarantined in Hoping Hospital in Taipei City.
Medical experts said afterwards that the 2003 outbreak originated in Hong Kong, presumably from an infected Chinese man.
"Taiwan's flu season differs from Hong Kong's; it is around Christmas," Lin Ting, deputy director of the Center for Disease Control under the Department of Health (DOH), told The China Post during a telephone interview.
He stressed that the previous flu season only claimed one victim, down from six in 2006, due to the vaccination policy put in place by the DOH.
"A network of about 500 hospitals and clinics systematically reports patients suffering severe flu to the ministry," he added, stressing the DOH is closely monitoring the developments in Hong Kong and China, in conjunction with the Mainland Affairs Council and the Straits Exchange Foundation.
Lin explained that health authorities plan to given up to 320,000 flu vaccines to primary students this year, up from 270,000 in 2007 and 220,000 in 2006.
"Not a single patient has so far contracted avian flu in Taiwan," said Doctor Wong Wing-wai, director of the Division for Disease Control and Prevention under the DOH.
He noted that Taipei City's current warning level against avian flu is 0, the lowest of four -- 0, A1, A2, B.
Although there aren't special precautions to take at the moment against seasonal flu, he went on, children and the elderly would be well advised to wear masks while using public transport, as many people have been travelling around the island on the trail of the upcoming presidential elections.
Large movements of population are considered an important factor in epidemic outbreaks. "If you travel to Hong Kong, you will have to monitor your temperature when you come back," he added.:tiphat: http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/2008/03/08/146120/Taiwan-ready.htm