Tainan welcomes dengue fever ‘cleanup consultants’

As the total number of confirmed dengue fever cases yesterday reached 12,766 nationwide since the start of summer, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) sent a group of “cleanup consultants” to Tainan to help with efforts to prevent the spread of the disease.

There were 397 cases of dengue reported nationwide on Monday, with 319 in Tainan and 65 in Kaohsiung, while other counties and cities had fewer cases — three in Taipei; two in Pingtung County, Taoyuan and Taichung; and one in Chiayi City, Chiayi County, Hualien County and Kinmen County.

The CDC said most of the cases reported outside of Tainan and Kaohsiung had traveled to southern Taiwan in the past few months.

As of yesterday, a total of 9,608 people, including 8,400 in Tainan and 1,042 in Kaohsiung, have already recovered from dengue, the centers said, adding that 48 patients remain in intensive care.

The cleanup consultants, volunteers that have experience in dengue fever prevention, arrived at Tainan North District Office yesterday to hold discussions with borough heads and community volunteers about further community cleanup actions.

Meanwhile, the Central Epidemic Command Center asked the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Tainan Hospital to stop accepting patients that do not need urgent treatment, so that it can focus on the treatment of dengue patients.

The center also urged the public to examine their living environment and to clean anything that contains standing water at least once a week, because mosquito larvae in standing water hatch after about a week.

Patients that contract dengue fever should strictly follow their doctor’s instructions, take medicine, drink lots of water and rest at home as much as possible, the centers said, adding that they should make sure they do not get bitten by a mosquito within five days of being diagnosed to avoid spreading the virus.

Reference: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2015/09/21/2003628236