During October 15 and 21, 2013, 16 new indigenous cases of dengue fever, including this season’s first dengue hemorrhagic fever case in Pingtung City, and 9 imported cases of dengue fever were confirmed. According to the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (Taiwan CDC), the number of indigenous dengue fever cases continued to increase in Pingtung County and most new cases occurred in Pingtung City. Hence, the public is urged to clean up vector-breeding sites in and around their residences. Travelers planning to visit areas affected by dengue fever are strongly recommended to take precautions against mosquito bites, including 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 stresses that if travelers develop symptoms such as fever, headache, muscle ache and joint pain after returning to Taiwan, please seek immediate medical attention.

This dengue season’s first indigenous dengue hemorrhagic fever case is a 57-year-old male who resides in Qiaobei Village, Pingtung City, Pingtung County and has a history of high blood pressure and diabetes. On October 14, he sought medical attention when he developed fever, headache, muscle ache, joint pain, back pain and bone pain and was diagnosed with dengue fever. On October 17, the case experienced acute abdominal pain and tarry stool. Subsequently, the case was diagnosed with dengue hemorrhagic fever and reported to the health authority. As of now, the case is still hospitalized for medical treatment and he is currently stable. On the other hand, the new indigenous dengue fever case that occurred in Taichung City is a 57-year-old female who resides in Guangming Village, Wuri District. On October 14, she sought medical attention when she developed fever, headache, muscle ache, joint pain, retrorbital pain, back pain and bone pain and was diagnosed with dengue fever. As of now, the case is also still hospitalized for medical treatment. Prior to her disease onset, she visited relatives in Fengrong Village, Pingtung City. Currently, none of the family members residing in the same household with the case have developed suspected symptoms. 

Of the 16 new indigenous cases, 13 reside in Pingtung County, 2 reside in Kaohsiung City and 1 reside in Taichung City. As of October 21, 2013, a cumulative total of 180 indigenous dengue cases have been confirmed this dengue season. Among the indigenous dengue cases, 165 cases have been confirmed in Pingtung County (81 cases in Pingtung City, 36 cases in Chunri Township, 28 cases in Chaozhou Township, 11 cases in Xinyuan Township, 4 cases in Xinpi Township, 1 case in Neipu Township, 1 case in Zhutian Township, 1 case in Ligang Township, 1 case in Wanluan Township, and 1 case in Linluo Township), 7 cases have been confirmed in Taipei City, 6 cases have been confirmed in Kaohsiung City, and 1 case has been respectively confirmed in New Taipei City and Taichung City. 

This year, three types of dengue virus have occurred in Pingtung County. Taiwan CDC urges people who have been previously infected with one or more types of dengue virus and those with chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes and liver disease to pay additional attention to dengue prevention and take personal precautions against mosquito bites to prevent dengue fever and consequently dengue hemorrhagic fever. Taiwan CDC stresses that everyone needs to participate in dengue control efforts in order to successfully contain the epidemic and urges the public to stay vigilant against dengue fever and take necessary measures such as draining water containers and cleaning up vector breeding sites around their residences as well as preventing mosquito bites to effectively prevent the spread of dengue fever and dengue hemorrhagic fever and protect their health and the health of their family. According to Article 70 of the Communicable Disease Control Act, anyone who refuses, evades or obstructs disease control measures such as inspection decided by competent authorities or fails to notify the competent authorities of the presence of vector breeding sites that is later identified by competent authorities or clean up vector breeding sites as requested by competent authorities may be fined NT$ 3,000 up to NT$ 15,000. For more information on dengue fever, please call the toll-free Communicable Disease Reporting and Care Hotline, 1922, or 0800-001922 if calling from a cell phone, or visit the Taiwan CDC’s website at http://www.cdc.gov.tw.