As schools and work resume after the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday, the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (Taiwan CDC) advises the public to continue to pay attention to hand hygiene and cough etiquette. If influenza-like illness develops, please put on a mask and seek immediate medical attention and stay at home to rest while sick. In addition, physicians are urged to stay vigilant for patients with influenza-like illness and prescribe government-funded antivirals when appropriate to lower the risk of complications and deaths.

During February 15 and 21, 2015 (Week 7), a cumulative total of 20 confirmed cases of influenza-related complications, including 4 deaths, were reported. Influenza activity has remained peaked. The rate of specimens testing positive for influenza virus in the community is approximately 41.3%. Currently, H3N2 is the dominant strain circulating in the community. During Week 7 (the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday), the proportion of people seeking healthcare for influenza-like illness was 14.0%, which is slightly up from the 10% during Week 6. During Week 7 last year, the proportion of people seeking healthcare for influenza-like illness was 12.6%. During the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday last year (Weeks 5 and 6), the proportions of people seeking healthcare for influenza-like illness respectively were 18.4% and 16.4%. As of February 24, 2015, a cumulative total of 88 cases of influenza-related complications, including 16 deaths, were reported, including 8 cases infected by H1N1, 72 cases infected by H3N2, 2 cases infected by untyped influenza A and 6 cases infected by influenza B. Among these cases, 9 deaths were caused by infection with H3N2 and 1 death was caused by infection with influenza B. During the same period last year, a total of 320 cases of influenza-related complications and 77 deaths were reported.

As the influenza outbreaks in northern hemisphere continue to persist, the influenza A(H3N2) virus is the primary circulating strain. The influenza activity in Hong Kong has remained peaked and According to the surveillance data announced by the Hong Kong competent authority, during week 7, the rate of specimens testing positive for influenza virus in the community was approximately 27.4%, which is slightly lower than those reported during the previous two weeks. Although the proportion of people seeking healthcare for influenza-like illness has decreased, it still remained high. Nevertheless, the weekly number of cases of influenza-related complications reported since Week 4 this year has been the highest since 2011. As of February 24, 2015, a cumulative total of 369 cases of influenza-related complications among adults and 17 cases among children, including 273 deaths, were reported. On the other hand, the influenza activities in Canada, Europe, and the United States have continued to decrease.

Taiwan CDC urges the public to pay attention to respiratory hygiene and cough etiquette and advises the public to put on a surgical mask when experiencing respiratory symptoms. Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. When you are sick with influenza-like illness, please try to maintain a distance of at least one meter while having conversations with others. If someone in the household develops influenza-like illness, especially individuals at increased risks for influenza-related complications such as infants, elderly and patients with chronic diseases, please pay additional attention to the health and wellbeing of such an individual and ensure he/she receive prompt medical treatment to avoid severe influenza complications. If signs of severe complications such as shortness of breath, breathing difficulty, cyanosis, blood-stained mucus or thickening of mucus, chest pain, change of consciousness, low blood pressure or high fever that persists for more than 48 hours develop, please put on a mask and seek immediate medical attention. When necessary, please follow the physician’s instructions for taking the government-funded antivirals. For more information, please visit the Taiwan CDC website at http://www.cdc.gov.tw or call the toll-free Communicable Disease Reporting and Consultation Hotline, 1922 (or 0800-001922).