H1N1-suspended classes continue rising

Officials at the Central Epidemics Command Center (CECC) urged parents to take their children to get vaccinations as early as possible as the threat from the outbreak of swine flu may only increase as the temperatures continue to drop during the winter months.

Health authorities reported that an average of 15,000 patients go to hospitals for flu treatment per day around the island.

Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said they were not surprised by the high number of outpatients as the public has become more aware of the flu threats and more willing to seek early treatment for the sake of their own and others' health. The majority of the people receiving medical treatment show only light symptoms with lesser health threats, they said.

They expect the overall situation to gradually improve starting next week as the immunization date for junior high school students has been moved up to Monday, Nov. 23, and that for senior high school students advanced to Nov. 30.

However, they said less than one percent of pregnant women on the island have completed immunization despite the policy of giving them the priority to get vaccinated. The number of pregnant women infected with the new flu has increased to six cases and two patients have died, bringing the death rate to 33 percent. There are presently about 200,000 pregnant women in Taiwan but just 1,600 of them have gotten immunized, accounting for only 0.8 percent of the total.

In addition to pregnant women, officials said parents who still have reservations and are withholding their children from receiving the vaccine shots should not hold out any longer. Under the current practice, school children getting vaccinated should first have their parents' signatures in a form distributed by schools. But some parents obviously still take a wait-and-see attitude and are unwilling to give consent.

Health officials said hesitant parents may seek special medical advice by letting their children undergo detailed examinations at larger hospitals and then consider recommendations from doctors about getting vaccinated instead of exposing their children to the flu threat.

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