Hospital visits for flu rose about 10% last week: FDAEPIDEMIC THRESHOLD: Among hospital visits for flu-like illnesses, 9.7 percent sought treatment at emergency rooms, almost at the level defining an epidemic, it saidBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterHospital visits for flu-like illnesses increased by about 10 percent last week from a week earlier, with local flu activity expected to peak next month, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. Flu viruses were the most common pathogen spreading in the past few weeks, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said, citing respiratory pathogen monitoring data. There were 91,842 hospital visits for flu-like illnesses at outpatient departments and emergency rooms last week, up 9.6 percent from the previous week, Guo said. Photo: CNAAmong the hospital visits last week, 9.7 percent sought treatment at emergency rooms, almost at the epidemic threshold of 11 percent, he said, adding that influenza A(H3N2) was the dominant strain over the past few weeks. Twenty-three cases of severe flu complications and three flu-related deaths were reported from Tuesday last week to Monday, he said, adding that since the start of the flu season on Oct. 1 last year, there have been 441 severe cases and 86 deaths.

Source: Taipei Times January 13, 2026 17:13 UTC