Number of Patients With Flu-like Symptoms Soaring 看診類流感症狀增加 疫苗預約顯冷清

The number of patients seeking treatment for flu-like symptoms has increased 36 percent in the last seven weeks. Doctors are calling on the government to make at-home flu tests available to the public. People over 65 and high-risk groups are also adviced to get their flu shots as soon as possible. 

The number of patients seeking treatment for fever, cough and other flu-like symptoms has gone up dramatically since the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday. Even so, interest in free flu shots, which will be administered starting Oct. 1, is very low.

Zen Lin, Chair, Primary Care Association: “In recent years, many clinics purchased out-of-pocket flu shots. Most were destroyed because there was no interest. We don't have a lot of reservations this year either.”

Ms. Lu, Citizen: “The flu and (COVID-19) are not the same thing. They're completely different, so we're getting vaccinated.”

The number of patients seeking treatment for fever, cough and other flu-like symptoms in the last seven weeks increased by 36% to around 30,000. Doctors say flu season has already arrived in the southern hemisphere and will start in the northern hemisphere at the end of the year. Therefore, people over 65 and other high-risk groups are urged to get their flu shots as COVID-19 has not abated.

Zen Lin, Chair, Primary Care Association: “If you get infected by both viruses at the same time, your symptoms will be more severe. If you have both viruses attacking your respiratory tract, whether it's one followed by the other or at the same time, your case will most likely be much more severe.”

Doctors say the symptoms of COVID-19 and the flu are very similar and only a rapid test can determine which a patient has. They are calling on the government to make at-home flu tests available to the public. The CDC has confirmed 47 cases of influenza A recently; fortunately, all of them were mild cases.

新冠本土疫情升溫，流感病毒也蠢蠢欲動，有基層診所醫師觀察，中秋節過後，到診所看診病人以發燒、咳嗽等類流感症狀居多，雖然10月1日起公費流感疫苗即將開打，但是診所預約情況冷清，擔憂今年流感疫苗可能會打不完。

基層醫療協會理事長林應然指出：「前兩年很多的診所購買了這些自費的流感疫苗都沒人打，都報銷掉，今年預約的人也不多。」

民眾盧女士說道：「流感和現在目前的病毒是不一樣的，完全不同類型的，所以我們都會打。」

醫師擔憂不是沒有原因，因為根據疾管署監測發現，過去7週，全台類流感門急診就診人次從2.1萬多人次攀升到近3萬人次，增加3成6，醫師表示，南半球澳洲已經進入流感流行季，預估年底就會輪到北半球，若同時感染新冠及流感病毒，重症及死亡率都會增加，呼籲65歲以上長者等高風險族群，一定要接種流感疫苗。

基層醫療協會理事長林應然表示：「畢竟兩個病毒如果同時感染，你會更嚴重啊，它們兩個都是侵犯呼吸道的，如果兩個病毒都同時侵犯呼吸道，不管先後或者是同時，你都可能會受到更大的傷害。」

醫師強調，新冠和流感的症狀很類似，若沒有快篩，醫事人員也很難分辨兩者區別，建議指揮中心可以開放民眾購買家用流感快篩試劑，讓有症狀民眾在家就可採檢；而疾管署實驗室近期已收到47例A型流感通報，所幸都屬於輕症。