According to statistics compiled by the Centers for Disease Control in Taiwan (Taiwan CDC), 2367 cases of notifiable infectious diseases were confirmed among patients who had illness onset in December, 2007. During the same period in 2006, 2101 cases of notifiable infectious diseases were confirmed among patients who had illness onset with an infectious disease.
None of the 2367cases confirmed in December in 2007 was infected with a Category 1 or Category 5 notifiable infectious disease. On the other hand, 234 cases were confirmed with a Category 2 notifiable infectious disease, which accounted for 9.89% of the total confirmed cases. Further, the majority of the cases, 178 out of 234, were infected with dengue fever, followed by 24 cases of amoebiasis, and 21 cases of shigellosis. In addition, 1788 cases were infected with a Category 3 disease, which accounted for 75.54% of the total confirmed cases, and 1045 out of the 1788 cases were infected with tuberculosis, constituting the highest case number in this category, followed by 577 cases of syphilis, and 124 cases of gonorrhea. Moreover, 126 cases were infected with a Category 4 disease, which accounted for 5.32% of the total confirmed cases, and 83 out of the 126 cases were infected with invasive pneumococcal disease, constituting the highest case number in this category, followed by 36 cases of scrub typhus, and 4 cases of Q fever. Furthermore, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection was the most prevalent among the confirmed cases affected by a disease from the category of other designated infectious diseases. More specifically, 146 cases of HIV infection were confirmed.
In December 2007, 33 confirmed cases of infectious diseases were imported, dengue fever infection was the most common with a case number of 15 (5 from Vietnam, 3 from Indonesia, 2 from Thailand,2 from the Philippines, 2 from Solomon Islands, and 1 from China), followed by 4 cases of amoebiasis (2 from Indonesia and 2 from the Philippines), 3 cases of shigellosis (2 from the Philippines and 1 from Cambodia), 2 cases of malaria (1 from Guinea and 1 from Cote d’Iivoire), 2 cases of Chikungunya (Indonesia), 2 case of typhoid fever(1 from Indonesia and 1 from Myanmar), 1 case of acute viral hepatitis type B (Indonesia), 1 case of acute viral hepatitis type E ( the imported country is unknown), 1 case of measles (the Philippines), 1 case of mumps(China) and 1 case of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (China). Between January and December in 2007, the three most common infectious diseases imported were dengue fever, amoebiasis, and shigellosis with case numbers of 178, 59, and 45 respectively.
As Taiwan is located in the subtropics, vector-borne infectious diseases are prevalent. On the other hand, after eight possible cases of Chikungunya have been reported in Singapore, the local health authority is worried that the infectious disease has rooted in the country. In addition, due to the growing popularity of international travel and global climate change, vector-borne infectious diseases now spread more easily and readily across Asia and even to other countries in the world. Therefore, it is everyone’s responsibility to help maintain a vector-free environment.