The increased norovirus cases in Taiwan recently were mainly associated with a new strain of norovirus, GII.2, the CDC said.

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/01/26
By: Wendy Lee, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Centers for Disease Control (CDC) on Thursday has warned

(By Central News Agency)

the holiday travelers to watch for norovirus outbreaks in Japan and South Korea, and the surge of H7N9 avian influenza cases in China, as travel tends to increase during the Lunar New Year holiday.

In a press conference, CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo said that H7N9 avian flu continues to spread through parts of China, with as many as 245 confirmed cases being recorded since October.

Most of the infections were reported in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, and Guangdong, and many of them have been reported exposure to live poultry, he added.   [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/01/17
By: Chen Wei-ting and Christie Chen

Taipei, Jan. 17 (CNA) The number of new HIV/AIDS cases recorded in Taiwan in 2016 totaled 2,400, the third highest in history, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said on Tuesday.

As of the end of 2016, 33,428 Taiwanese nationals have been diagnosed with HIV and the number of new annual infections was the third highest ever, after 3,378 new cases in 2005 and 2,917 in 2006, CDC Deputy Director General Lo Yi-chun (羅一鈞) said at a press conference.

However, Lo said that the increase in new cases does not mean that the spread of the disease has worsened, but is more likely a result of expanded screening and the introduction of oral fluid tests last year, which allow patients to purchase HIV kits and conduct tests in the privacy of their own homes.

The CDC statistics also showed that 97 percent of the 2,400 new cases in 2016 were male, with a median age of 28, the main cause of infection being the sharing of needles and other drug paraphernalia.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/11/27
By: Chen Wei-ting and Kuo Chung-han

Taipei, Nov. 27 (CNA) A husband and wife who live in Neihu District Taipei have been diagnosed as the

CNA file photo

seventh and eighth confirmed indigenous cases of dengue fever in Taiwan since the start of summer, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said on Sunday.

The CDC also described them as cluster infection cases, saying the couple had not been abroad during the incubation period of the virus.

The couple lives some 24 meters from a 56-year-old woman who had been confirmed to have dengue fever on Nov. 24, and the couple and woman were active in the same neighborhood and evening farmers market.

Another person living with the couple is OK for now, but the CDC has started dengue fever containment measurements in the area, CDC Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/11/10
By: Chang Ming-hsuan and Y.F. Low

Taipei, Nov. 10 (CNA) A Taiwan-U.S. research team has identified an RNA molecule that plays a key

Yang Huang-yu (楊皇煜)

role in repressing regulatory T cells, a discovery that may lead to a possible cure for autoimmune diseases such as lupus and ankylosing spondylitis.

Yang Huang-yu (楊皇煜), a nephrologist at Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, explained that T cells can prevent the human immune system from becoming hyperactive and mistaking healthy body cells for invading pathogens.

Previous studies found that in the event of an infection, the inflammatory cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6) will make T cells lose their regulatory functions, resulting in the immune system attacking healthy cells, he said.

The latest study, conducted by a team of scientists from Chang Gung and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, discovered that IL-6 represses T cells through microRNA-17 (miR-17), and removing microRNA-17 will help the immune system restore its balance, he said.    [FULL  STORY]

A 36-year-old man has died from flu just one day after he first started showing symptoms.

Taiwan News
Date: 2016/11/08
By: Wendy Lee , Taiwan News, Staff Writer

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released a report on Tuesday, reporting the rising rate of

By Central News Agency

influenza cases across the nation, and reminded the public to get their flu shots before winter arrives.

A 36-year-old man has died from flu just one day after he first started showing symptoms, according to the CDC.

A total of 19 new cases of Severe Complicated Influenza were recorded last week alone, the highest weekly figure in seven months, the CDC said, with 95 percent of which associated with chronic health problems, which placed the patients at greater risk of complications from influenza.

H3N2, H1N1 and influenza B have also resulted in 3 deaths since October 1, all of which aged between 36 and 78 and suffered from chronic health conditions, according to the CDC.    [FULL  STORY]

One company is applying for a permit to manufacture and sell menstrual cups in Taiwan while others are lobbying for it to be sold online.

The News Lens
Date: 2016/11/01
By: ZiQing Low

A petition on the National Development Council’s online public policy civic participation

Photo Credit: Michelle TribeCC BY 2.0

platform (公共政策網路參與平台) to permit menstrual cups to be sold online in Taiwan has reached over 6,000 signatures since it launched in July.

In response to the petition, Taiwan’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a statement saying it has begun collecting professional advice on whether menstrual cups are suitable for online sale.

Menstrual cups are soft, bell-shaped cups made out of medical grade silicone and are inserted directly into the vagina to collect menstrual fluid. It can be used for up to 12 hours at a time and then washed for reuse. If taken care of properly, one cup can be used for up to 10 years, making it more environmentally friendly than sanitary pads and tampons.

Women who use menstrual cups are also less likely to contract toxic shock syndrome (TSS), a life-threatening bacterial infection that has been associated with tampon use.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/10/18
By: Chen Wei-ting and Lilian Wu

A health official demonstrates the device used for a HIV saliva quick-test program.
Taipei, Oct. 18 (CNA) Four people have been confirmed HIV- positive after using a home quick-test program launched by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) last month.

The CDC started the HIV saliva quick-test program Sept. 1, and as of the end of that month, more than 1,000 people had used the test kits.

Citizens from Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung have used the test kits more than in other cities, but in terms of population, the ratio of Hualien citizens taking the test has been higher.

Huang Shih-tze (黃士澤), a doctor with the CDC, said that HIV patients can now be treated with better drugs, but some are unwilling to go to hospital for testing out of privacy concerns.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-10-15
By: Sophia Yang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Another two imported Zika cases have been confirmed in less than a week in Taiwan. The Centers

(Photo courtesy of Wikipedia)

for Disease Control (CDC) announced Friday that a Taiwanese man in his 60s who traveled to Malaysia in a tour group in late September and a Thai national in his 20s who developed Zika infection symptoms upon his arrival in mid-October are the latest Zika victims. Both have been kept from mosquito bites after testing positive as the victims could spread the virus to uninfected persons until their symptoms go away.

According to the CDC, after returning home, the Taiwanese man, who lives in New Taipei City, developed rashes over his upper body on October 4 but still traveled to Taitung during the National Day holiday rather than paying a visit to the doctor. The man is now being kept from mosquito bites under the required precautionary measures. The people around him at home and at his workplace have not shown any suspicious symptoms, the CDC stated in a news release.

Another 11 people on the same tour group to Malaysia have tested negative for the virus, the CDC said.     [FULL  STORY]