Asia Infectious Disease News Today
Some quick takes on news from Asia
South Korea norovirus
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency reports a doubling in norovirus cases during the past five weeks.
Children ages 0 to 6 years account for 38.6 percent of the cases—Incidence rate by age over the past 5 weeks: (0-6 years old) 38.6%, (65 years old or older) 20.3%, (7-18 years old) 15.9%, (19-49 years old) and (50-64 years old) 12.6%.
China monkeypox
Through October 2023, Chinese health officials reported 127 new confirmed cases of monkeypox in the Mainland.
This includes 17 cases in Guangdong, 16 cases in Shanghai , 15 cases in Zhejiang, 13 cases in Beijing and 12 cases in Sichuan.
According to epidemiological investigation and analysis, the epidemic has the following characteristics: First, 98.2 % of the cases are male, 90.0 % of the cases are men who have sex with men and 2 of the cases are female.
Taiwan paratyphoid
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated this week that 22 confirmed cases of local paratyphoid fever have been discovered in Taiwan this year, which is higher than the same period from 2014 to 2022.
15 of the local cases are male (68%) and 7 are female (32%). Their ages range from the teens to their 50s, with the majority (50%) aged 20-29. Their residences are distributed in 11 counties and cities, the onset times were scattered in various months, with the highest number of cases in October, with 8 cases.
According to routine epidemic survey data, some cases involved eating raw or undercooked food, such as grilled oysters, raw oysters, raw shrimp, sashimi, and raw scallops.
Cambodia H5N1 avian influenza
A few days after I put the news release from the Cambodia Ministry of Health on my social media accounts, the World Health Organization (WHO) provided additional details on the situation.
According to the UN agency:
The Ministry of Health of Cambodia notified WHO of two confirmed human cases of influenza A (H5N1) between 24 and 25 November 2023. The cases resided in the same village in Kampot Province. Both cases were females, one in the age group of 20-25 years and the other less than 5 years old.
The first case passed away, while the second case is currently admitted in an isolation room in the respiratory ward of the hospital and undergoing treatment
Epidemiological investigation shows both cases had exposure to backyard birds which were reported to be sick and dead, over the past month. No epidemiological linkage of these cases has yet been confirmed other than that they both resided in the same village.
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Laboratory investigation shows the viruses, as indicated by phylogenetic analysis, fall within the H5 clade 2.3.2.1c with close similarity to the viruses that have been circulating in Cambodia and Southeast Asia since 2013-2014. The sequences cluster most closely with the viruses from the two human cases reported in October 2023.
In total, six cases of influenza A(H5N1) have been reported from Cambodia this year.
Japan syphilis
In a follow-up on the syphilis outbreak in Japan this year, the Tokyo Metropolitan Infectious Disease Surveillance Center reports a new record of syphilis cases reaching 13,251, exceeding the record set last year (12,966).
The sexually transmitted disease (STD) has been on the rise in Japan since around 2011. Numbers were declining in 2019 and 2020, but have increased rapidly since 2021.
In addition, officials report 32 cases of congenital syphilis reported this year through Oct. 4, far exceeding the previous record of 23 cases in 2019.