According to a report on September 3 on Taiwan’s Zhongshi news website, Taiwan’s Department of Disease Control announced on September 3 that the number of diarrhea patients in Taiwan last week (August 25 to 31) had increased for the fifth consecutive week, nearly 130,000 cases of diarrhea occurred, and nearly 100 cases of diarrhea clusters were reported in the last 4 weeks, a new high in the same period of 5 years, and up to six cases of norovirus infection. Taiwan’s Department of Disease Control spokesman Luo Yijun said the situation is difficult to control in the short term, as will usher in the mid-autumn Festival barbecue season, there may be a wave of peak infection.
On September 3, the Department of Disease Control announced the number of diarrhea cases in Taiwan last week (August 25-31) . The data showed that the number of diarrhea cases increased for the fifth consecutive week, with nearly 130,000 cases of diarrhea.
According to the report, surveillance data from Taiwan’s Department of Disease Control showed that a total of 129536 people visited the department of Diarrhea and emergency services last week, up slightly from 127876 in the previous week and higher than the same period from 2019 to 2022, and in the last 5 weeks, the overall trend was up, the test mainly caused by norovirus viral gastroenteritis.
According to the report, 98 cases of diarrhea clusters were reported in the past four weeks, higher than the number reported in the same period from 2019 to the 2023, among them, 48 cases were positive for pathogens, 29 cases (60%) were norovirus, 14 cases (29.2%) were Vibrio enteritidis.
A spokesman for Taiwan’s Department of Disease Control, Luo Yijun, said that the diarrhea situation will only increase in the short term, as September is the peak season for barbecues in Taiwan during the mid-autumn Festival, and the department expects the infection situation to continue to rise, there will be another peak after the mid-autumn Festival. Luo called on everyone to pay attention to hand-washing and food hygiene, shellfish and meat must be cooked or grilled to eat again.
According to the report, Norovirus is one of the most common pathogens causing acute gastroenteritis, which is characterized by low Caliciviridae dose, long detoxication time and strong environmental resistance.