According to statistics compiled by the Centers for Disease Control in Taiwan (Taiwan CDC), 2214 cases of notifiable infectious diseases were confirmed among patients who had illness onset in March, 2008. During the same period in 2007, 2208 cases of notifiable infectious diseases were confirmed among patients who had illness onset with an infectious disease.
None of the 2214 cases confirmed in March this year was infected with a Category 1 or Category 5 notifiable infectious disease. On the other hand, 131 cases were confirmed with a Category 2 notifiable infectious disease, which accounted for 5.92% of the total confirmed cases. Further, the majority of the cases, 50 out of 131, were infected with amoebiasis, followed by 42 cases of acute hepatitis A, and 10 cases of shigellosis. In addition, 1700 cases were infected with a Category 3 disease, which accounted for 76.78% of the total confirmed cases, and 989 out of the 1700 cases were infected with tuberculosis, constituting the highest case number in this category, followed by 537 cases of syphilis, and 123 cases of gonorrhea. Moreover, 150 cases were infected with a Category 4 disease, which accounted for 6.78% of the total confirmed cases, and 124 out of the 150 cases were infected with invasive pneumococcal disease, constituting the highest case number in this category, followed by 11 cases of Q fever, and 8 cases of scrub typhus. 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, 159 cases of HIV infection were confirmed.
In March, 20 confirmed cases of infectious diseases were imported. Dengue fever infection was the most common with a case number of 7 (5 from Indonesia, 1 from the Philippines, and 1 from Tonga), followed by 6 cases of shigellosis (3 from Indonesia, 1 from Cambodia, 1 from Vietnam, and 1 from Singapore), followed by 3 cases of amoebiasis (all from Indonesia), 2 cases of malaria (both from China), 1 case of acute hepatitis A (1 from the Philippines), and 1 case of rubella (from Malaysia). Between January and March this year, 68 confirmed cases of infectious diseases were imported. The three most common infectious diseases imported during this period were dengue fever, amoebiasis, and shigellosis with case numbers of 21, 15, and 12 respectively.
When compared to the average case numbers for the month of March in the previous three years, the average case numbers of the following diseases exceeded the average values from the previous three years: amoebiasis, Enteroviruses Infection with Severe Complications, acute hepatitis A, acute flaccid paralysis, botulism, dengue fever, scrub typhus, meningococcal meningitis, measles, severe complicated influenza case, pertussis, rubella, invasive pneumococcal disease, syphilis, hantavirus hemorrhagic fever, acute viral hepatitis unspecified, leptospirosis, melioidosis and leprosy.
When compared to the average case numbers for the months of January through March in the previous three years, the average case numbers of the following diseases exceeded the average values from the previous three years: amoebiasis, Enteroviruses Infection with Severe Complications, acute hepatitis A, acute flaccid paralysis, botulism, malaria, dengue fever, Chikungunya fever, scrub typhus, meningococcal meningitis, measles, rubella, mumps, invasive pneumococcal disease, AIDS, syphilis, gonorrhea, hantavirus hemorrhagic fever, acute viral hepatitis unspecified, leptospirosis, melioidosis and leprosy.