On January 15, 2013, the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (Taiwan CDC) announced three new cases of dengue hemorrhagic fever, including one imported case and two indigenous cases, were confirmed last week (January 8 and 14). Thus far, a cumulative total of 38 dengue hemorrhagic fever cases, including 7 deaths, have been confirmed this dengue season. In terms of dengue fever epidemic, 4 imported cases and 6 indigenous cases have been confirmed. Of the 6 indigenous cases, 3 cases have been respectively confirmed in Tainan and Kaohsiung City. Since the beginning of the 2012 summer, a cumulative total of 1,261 dengue cases have been confirmed, including 742 cases that reside in Tainan City, 500 cases that reside in Kaohsiung City, 7 cases that reside in Taoyuan County, 5 cases that reside in New Taipei City, and one case that resides in Taipei City, Miaoli County, Yunlin County, Chiayi County, Pingtung County, Taitung County and Penghu County. In addition, this year’s first imported case of chikungunya fever was confirmed last week. Hence, Taiwan CDC urges the public to continue to clean up and remove any vector-breeding sites in and around residences to prevent the epidemic from dragging into winter and take protection measures against mosquito bites when visiting areas affected by dengue and chikungunya fever in Southeast Asia during the winter break. 

The three new cases of dengue hemorrhagic fever confirmed last week respectively are a 10-year-old boy who resides in East District, Tainan City, a 78-year-old male who resides in West Central District, Tainan City and a 54-year-old male who resides in Fengshan District, Kaohsiung City. Currently, they have all recovered and been discharged from the hospital. On the other hand, this year’s first imported case of chikungunya fever has been confirmed in a 26-year-old female Indonesian worker who was detected with a fever by the fever screening system at the airport upon arrival and whose specimen was collected for laboratory testing. As of now, the case has recovered. Although local dengue epidemic continued to decline last week, sporadic cases have still occurred in Tainan and Kaohsiung City. Hence, the public is still urged to clean and remove indoor and outdoor water containers and doctors are advised to stay vigilant in order to prevent further spread of the disease and prevent the epidemic from dragging into winter.

Opportunities for people to travel overseas increase as the winter break is fast approaching. Moreover, dengue and chikungunya fever are endemic in Southeast Asia all year round. Therefore, Taiwan CDC urges travelers visiting endemic areas to take precautions against mosquito bites such as wearing light-colored clothing, long sleeves and long pants and applying officially approved mosquito repellent to exposed parts of the body to lower the risk of infection. Taiwan CDC emphasizes if symptoms such as fever, headache, fatigue, retroorbital pain, myalgia, and arthragia develop after returning to Taiwan, please seek immediate medical attention and inform the doctor of any recent travel history and activity to facilitate prompt diagnosis and case reporting. For any questions or further information on dengue fever or dengue hemorrhagic fever, please call the toll-free Communicable Disease Reporting and Care Hotline, 1922, or 0800-024582 if calling from a cell phone, or visit the Taiwan CDC’s website at http://www.cdc.gov.tw.