Week 4 Dengue Fever

Dengue fever cases reach over 3,000 in Tainan

LONGER ILLNESS:More than 60% of people who contracted the disease this year had high fever for a week, instead of the usual two to three days

Staff writer, with CNA

The number of confirmed dengue fever cases in Tainan has escalated to more than 3,000 in the past four months, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday.

Tainan accounts for 3,003 of the 3,446 dengue infections reported nationwide since May 1, it said.

In a 24-hour period over the weekend, the number of cases in Tainan jumped by 131, the CDC said, adding that all four dengue deaths in the country this year were in the southern city.

In the neighboring city of Kaohsiung, the number of dengue cases as of yesterday were 381, the second-highest nationwide, followed by the southernmost county of Pingtung with 17 cases, the CDC said.

In northern Taiwan, 11 dengue fever infections have been reported in New Taipei and one in Taipei.

The risk of death from dengue fever can be reduced to less than 1 percent if the infection is diagnosed and treated early, the CDC said.

Symptoms of the mosquito-borne disease include fever, headache, pain in the eye socket, muscle and joint pain, and skin rash, it said.

A specialist in Tainan yesterday said that more than 60 percent of patients who have contracted dengue fever this year had high temperatures that lasted for about a week, which is a longer average period than those recorded in previous dengue fever outbreaks.

Hung Yuan-pin (洪元斌), director of Tainan Hospital’s Division of Infectious Diseases, said the hospital has recently been receiving 20 to 40 dengue fever inpatients each day.

Still more patients have sought outpatient care or emergency help, he said.

“[Their] fever lasts a very long time this year. It used to take only two to three days for the temperature to go down, but this time, it is lasting for seven days,” Hung said, adding that he fears the outbreak this summer is more severe than in the past.

Along with National Cheng Kung University Hospital, Tainan Hospital under the Ministry of Health is the major medical institution providing treatment to dengue fever patients in the southern municipality.

Health officials reminded people to keep their homes free of standing water and to make efforts to avoid mosquito bites.

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http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2015/09/01/2003626681

Structure of the Lead:

        WHO-not given

        WHEN-2015 May 1

        WHAT-Dengue fever

        WHY-not given

        WHERE-southern Taiwan

        HOW- keep their homes free of standing water and to make efforts to avoid mosquito bites

Keywords;

1.            confirmed: 慢性的

2.            eye socket: 眼眶

3.            joint: 關節

4.            skin rash: 皮疹

5.            outpatient: 門診

6.            institution: 機構

7.            municipality: 直轄市

Week 3 Formosa Fun Coast explosion

More than 500 people injured in water park nightclub explosion

MORE than 500 revellers have been injured – mostly burns – in an explosion at a water park nightclub.

By Ian Proctor / Published 28th June 2015

The blast happened on the stage of a packed outdoor nightclub arena at Formosa Fun Coast water park in Taiwan and spread to the dancefloor.

Revellers were engulfed in flames and fled on fire.

Burned victims were carried away from the music arena on inflatable rubber rings by park lifeguards and others.

Taipei health official Lee Lih-jong said 509 people were injured and 188 of those were serious.

The fire broke out at about 8.30pm local time and was quickly brought under control.

The cause of the fire is yet to be determined but flammable coloured powder was thrown into the air by the blast.

Several victims, some of whom suffered burns over 40 percent of their bodies, were sent to the Mackay Memorial Hospital in Tamsui, the Chang Kung Memorial Hospital in Linkou and the Taipei Veterans General Hospital in Tienmu, Taipei City, for emergency treatment.

A lot of injured people were still waiting at the park for treatment.

The park was hosting a Color Play Asia party – billed as the continent's largest – when the accident took place.

It sees 4,000 guests don goggles and white T-shirts to get covered in coloured powder.

Staff use modified paintball guns to fire bursts of powder at partygoers and revellers are sold packets they can burst and throw at one another.

Some people attending the party posted on Facebook that after a large volume of the mystery powder spewed out into the air and "the fire began". 

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/450574/amusement-park-theme-park-explosion-injured-ride-funfair-taiwan-chinese-taipei

Structure of the Lead:

        WHO- Formosa Fun Coast water park

        WHAT- explosion

        WHY- flammable coloured powder was thrown into the air by the blast

        WHERE- Taipei

        HOW- sent to the hospital

Keywords:

1.      blast 爆炸

2.      arena 場所

3.      dancefloor 舞池

4.      revelers 尋歡作樂的人

5.      engulf 吞沒

6.      fled  逃離

7.      inflatable rubber rings 充氣橡膠圈

8.      flammable 易燃的

Week 2 Elementary School Girl's throat was cut

Man allegedly cuts young girl’s throat

WITH A SMILE:The eight-year-old was undergoing emergency medical treatment as of press time. Reports said the suspect was angry at being jobless, or had been scolded for not visiting his cancer-stricken father

By Jake Chung  /  Staff writer

A 29-year-old man surnamed Kung (龔) was arrested yesterday after an attack at an elementary school in Taipei in which an eight-year-old girl’s throat was cut.

As of press time, the girl was undergoing emergency medical treatment at Taipei Veterans General Hospital.

Police said preliminary investigations suggest Kung entered the grounds of Wenhua Elementary School (文化國小) in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投) at about 4pm yesterday, before walking up four flights of stairs to the girls’ restroom, pulling out a knife when he saw the girl about to enter the restroom and allegedly slashing her twice across the throat.

The girl was found lying in a pool of blood and was rushed to hospital, while Kung remained at the scene and was detained by police.

An angry crowd gathered outside the police station last night and attempted to beat Kung as he stepped out of the police car. The police managed to hold back the crowd and took him into the station.

There was conflicting information about Kung’s supposed motive, with some sources saying that he was enraged after being unable to find work for four months, while others said that Kung was upset after being scolded by his mother and brother for not visiting his cancer-stricken father in hospital on Thursday.

Responding to questions from city councilors about the attack during a question-and-answer session at a city council meeting, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said that the city would assemble a special task force to review schoolground safety and security and establish a system within a year to screen and monitor dangerous people.

He added that the city presently had no system that would have been capable of keeping tabs on the suspect.

Department of Education Commissioner Tang Chih-min (湯志民) said that because schools are “open” as a matter of policy, it is difficult to keep tabs on everyone entering school grounds.

However, he said that more could be done to improve schoolground security, including addressing security camera “blind spots.”

Ko canceled a planned evening fund-raising appearance because of the incident, instead chairing a late-night city government meeting about the matter.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2015/05/30/2003619485

Structure of the Lead:

        WHO--29-year-old man surnamed Kung (龔)

        WHEN-29 May 2015

        WHAT-cuts young girl’s throat

        WHY- upset

        WHERE- Wenhua Elementary School

        HOW-not given

Keywords:

1.      preliminary 初步

2.      allegedly 據稱

3.      detained 被拘留

4.      enraged 生氣

5.      councilors 議員

6.      city council meeting 市議會會議

7.      assemble 組合

Week1 Malala

Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai to publish a book

Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai, who survived being shot in the head by the Taliban in October, has signed a book deal worth about $3m (£2m).

Malala, 15, who campaigns for girls' education, says the memoir is her own story and that of millions of others denied the chance to go to school.

She was shot by a Taliban gunman in her home region of Swat.

She and her family now live in the British city of Birmingham where she has been receiving treatment.

The book, titled I am Malala, is scheduled for publication in the autumn.

'Basic right'

"I hope the book will reach people around the world, so they realise how difficult it is for some children to get access to education," she said.

"I want to tell my story, but it will also be the story of 61 million children who can't get education.

"I want it to be part of the campaign to give every boy and girl the right to go to school. It is their basic right."

Publishers Weidenfeld and Nicolson say that her memoir will tell what happened on the day she was shot "and the inspiring story of her determination not be intimidated by extremists".

It will also be about the schoolgirl's family, who "gave her remarkable courage".

Malala writes in the memoir that Tuesday 9 October 2012 was "not the best of days as it was the middle of school exams - though as a bookish girl I don't mind them as much as my friends do".

At the time of the attack she was "squashed between friends and teachers on the benches of the open-back truck used as a school bus".

The gunman walked onto the vehicle and shot her in the face at point-blank range.

Since the shooting and her recovery after treatment in Pakistan and the UK, Malala has received numerous peace awards around the world.

Her father has been appointed a UN educational advisor, and 12 July has been designated by the United Nations as Malala Day.

The Malala Fund, set up on behalf of her and her family, is dedicated to the education and empowerment of girls in Pakistan and around the world.

 http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-21968034

Structure of the Lead:

        WHO-Malala

        WHEN-28 March 2013

        WHAT-  give every boy and girl the right to go to school

        WHY- not given

        WHERE- Pakistani

        HOW- not given

Keywords:

1. memoir 回憶錄

2. squash  把...壓扁

3. extremist 極端主義

4. empowerment 授權

5. advisor 顧問