During October 30 and November 5, 2012, 78 new indigenous dengue cases, including four dengue hemorrhagic fever cases and one death, were reported.  Of the new cases, 43 cases reside in Kaohsiung City and 35 cases reside in Tainan City. Since the beginning of this summer, a cumulative total of 888 dengue cases have been confirmed, including 601 cases that reside in Tainan City, 273 cases that reside in Kaohsiung City, 7 cases that reside in Taoyuan County, 2 cases that reside in New Taipei City, and one case that resides in Taipei City, Miaoli County, Chiayi County, Taitung County and Penghu County.

 
Of the four new dengue hemorrhagic fever cases confirmed last week, the first case was a 66-year-old female who resided in Kaohsiung City with a medical history of diabetes and she had dengue fever in 1987. She started experiencing symptoms such as fever, headache and loss of appetite on October 27.  On October 30, she sought medical attention at a regional hospital and was hospitalized.  On October 31, when she developed shock and coma, she was transferred to the intensive care unit for further treatment.  On November 1, she unfortunately passed away. The second case is a 42-year-old female and the third case is a 32-year-old male.  Both cases reside in Kaoshiung City and both have no medical history of chronic illnesses. The fourth case is a 74-year-old male who resides in Tainan City and has medical history of high blood pressure, high blood fat level, chronic kidney disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.  Currently, the latter three cases are still hospitalized for treatment.  This year, a cumulative total of 20 cases of dengue hemorrhagic fever have been reported, including 4 deaths.

 
14 of the 43 new cases in Kaohsiung City have been reported in Linyuan District, and 10 of the 35 new cases in Tainan City have been reported in South District.  The number of new cases reported in Tainan City last week is slightly less than that reported during the previous week.  On the other hand, the number of new cases reported in Kaohsiung City last week is slightly more than that reported during the previous week. Further, the distribution of cases has continued to spread wider, showing further spread of dengue virus. Hence, Taiwan CDC once again urges the public to remain vigilant against dengue virus and clean up and remove vector-breeding sites to prevent further transmission.

In the past years, epidemics of DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3 and DEN-4 had occurred in southern Taiwan.  Moreover, the number of indigenous dengue cases is peaking.  To effectively prevent dengue transmission in the community, Taiwan CDC urges the public to voluntarily remove standing water, clean up vector breeding sites and reduce the number of water-storage containers in and around residences at least once a week to prevent the spread of dengue fever.  In addition, physicians are urged to pay particular attention when diagnosing patients with a fever and report suspected cases to the health authority as soon as possible. For any questions or further information on dengue fever or dengue hemorrhagic fever, please call the toll-free Communicable Disease Reporting and Consultation Hotline, 1922, or 0800-024582 if calling from a cell phone, or visit the Taiwan CDC’s website at http://www.cdc.gov.tw.