By NewsDesk  @bactiman63

Health officials in Taiwan are reporting (computer translated) six additional locally transmitted dengue fever cases in Sanmin District, Kaohsiung City. This brings the total indigenous transmission in Taiwan to eight, all cases have been in Kaohsiung City.

Image/CDC

The latest cases include 3 women and 3 men, aged between 40 and 70, living in Dingjinli and Dingxili, with no history of traveling abroad.

All of the cases were diagnosed with Dengue virus type 4 (DEN4). All six patients are hospitalized in mosquito isolation.

Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu said Sunday that as the weather is getting warmer, he has instructed health and environmental personnel to ramp up disinfection efforts in the fight to prevent dengue fever.

Han also called on local residents to help prevent the disease from spreading by keeping their living quarters clean of stagnant water, where mosquitoes like to breed.

A total of 153 imported dengue fever cases have been reported in Taiwan this year, the highest in 10 years over the same period. Most of the imported cases have been from Indonesia (55) and Vietnam (32), according to the health officials.

Dengue is a viral infection transmitted by the bite of an infected mosquito. There are four closely related but antigenically different serotypes of the virus that can cause dengue (DEN1, DEN 2, DEN 3, DEN 4).


  • Dengue Fever (DF) – marked by an onset of sudden high fever, severe headache, pain behind the eyes, and pain in muscles and joints. Some may also have a rash and varying degree of bleeding from various parts of the body (including nose, mouth and gums or skin bruising).Dengue has a wide spectrum of infection outcome (asymptomatic to symptomatic). Symptomatic illness can vary from dengue fever (DF) to the more serious dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF).
  • Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF) – is a more severe form, seen only in a small proportion of those infected. DHF is a stereotypic illness characterized by 3 phases; febrile phase with high continuous fever usually lasting for less than 7 days; critical phase (plasma leaking) lasting 1-2 days usually apparent when fever comes down, leading to shock if not detected and treated early; convalescence phase lasting 2-5 days with improvement of appetite, bradycardia (slow heart rate), convalescent rash (white patches in red background), often accompanied by generalized itching (more intense in palms and soles), and diuresis (increase urine output).
  • Dengue Shock Syndrome (DSS) — Shock syndrome is a dangerous complication of dengue infection and is associated with high mortality. Severe dengue occurs as a result of secondary infection with a different virus serotype. Increased vascular permeability, together with myocardial dysfunction and dehydration, contribute to the development of shock, with resultant multiorgan failure.

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