cord-000534-ztc5holk 2011 BACKGROUND: In order to compare the transmissibility of the 2009 pH1N1 pandemic during successive waves of infections in summer and fall/winter in the Northern Hemisphere, and to assess the temporal changes during the course of the outbreak in relation to the intervention measures implemented, we analyze the epidemiological patterns of the epidemic in Taiwan during July 2009-March 2010. METHODS: We utilize the multi-phase Richards model to fit the weekly cumulative pH1N1 epidemiological data (numbers of confirmed cases and hospitalizations) as well as the daily number of classes suspended under a unique "325" partial school closing policy in Taiwan, in order to pinpoint the turning points of the summer and fall/winter waves, and to estimate the reproduction numbers R for each wave. The estimates for effective reproduction number R obtained from the confirmed case and hospitalization data are in good agreement, with R in the range of 1.04-1.27 for the first summer wave during July-September, and 1.01-1.05 for the second wave in fall/winter, using the generation time estimated by [26] for the spring outbreak in Mexico. cord-000581-ewx5xhrb 2012 This study was conducted as part of the AsiaFluCap project (www.asiaflucap.org), the overall aim of which is to conduct health systems analyses to support capacity development for responding to pandemic influenza across six countries and territories in Asia, specifically: Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. Estimating resource needs, gaps, and associated mortality In our baseline scenario, resource gaps were estimated assuming that 12% of ''''general'''' hospital resources (beds, ventilators and human resources) are available for care of pandemic influenza cases, with the remaining 88% required for maintaining essential healthcare services, as in a previous pilot study for Thailand [20] , and based on previous reports [25] [26] . Figure 1 presents the geographical distribution of estimated resource gaps across provinces (or districts in the case of Indonesia) in each study country for the modeled pandemic influenza scenario, under our baseline assumptions and point estimates for parameter values. cord-001169-6sfleb1b 2014 CONCLUSIONS: Local public health professionals can monitor the temporal and spatial trends plus spatio-temporal clusters and isolation rate of EV-71 in mild and severe EV cases in a community when virus transmission is high, to provide early warning signals and to prevent subsequent severe epidemics. The specific aims of this study were: (1) to elucidate the spatio-temporal correlations between the mild and severe enterovirus cases through integrating the data of the three enterovirusrelated surveillance systems, including the sentinel physician, national notifiable diseases and laboratory surveillance systems in Taiwan, (2) to find out the feasibility of establishing an early warning signal using the increasing numbers of mild EV-71 cases and their lag time periods to appearance of severe EV-71 cases, and (3) to evaluate the trends of severe EV-71 cases over a 9.5-year period for providing better recommendations on public health efforts in the future. cord-001202-xcrshplk 2009 Diagnoses of injury or poisoning; ill-defined symptoms, signs, or conditions; and diseases of the respiratory system were the 3 most common diagnostic categories in emergency units in Taiwan. 12 According to data from the 2002 US National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS), children (<19 years) and seniors (65+ years) represented 27% and 15% of all 15 In an analysis of the category of injury/poisoning, young and middle-aged adults were the majority of those treated in EDs for injuries (33.1% and 26.0% in the age groups of 18-44 and 45-64 years, respectively). Data from the National Health Insurance of Taiwan on annual total medical insurance costs and ED-associated costs indicate that the percentage of the total NHI expenditure that was spent on NHI medical emergency care was 2.9% in each of the years from 2000 to 2003 and 3.1% in 2004. The epidemiology of emergency medical services use by older adults: an analysis of the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey cord-002322-cy7j31wq 2016 37 To assess how general the relationship between climate and transmissibility of HFMD was, we took incidence data from Tokyo, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore (Fig. 2, Appendix 1) , that is, spanning temperate, subtropical and tropical latitudes, and fitted time series models to them. Updated situation of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) and enterovirus infection 2010 A case-control study to identify environmental risk factors for hand, foot, and mouth disease outbreaks in Beijing Epidemic of hand, foot and mouth disease associated with enterovirus 71 infection A large-scale epidemic of hand, foot and mouth disease associated with enterovirus 71 infection in Japan in 1978 Risk factors of enterovirus 71 infection and associated hand, foot, and mouth disease/herpangina in children during an epidemic in Taiwan Estimation of the basic reproduction number of enterovirus 71 and coxsackievirus A16 in hand, foot, and mouth disease outbreaks cord-002510-h1eqnzn3 2017 The main organizing principles of the CDCMN are centralized isolation of patients with severe highly infectious diseases and centralization of medical resources, as well as a network of designated regional hospitals like those in other countries. Following the anthrax attacks in the United States in 2001, the SARS outbreak in 2003, and 2 decades of medical system reforms, a number of countries have adopted an approach that designates specific responding hospitals at the national, regional, and/or local levels to centralize resources, build capacity, and train special medical staff. In addition, considering the continuously improving healthcare system in Taiwan, all the responding hospitals were able to take in patients with highly infectious diseases and rapidly activate the emergency response plan, regardless of the category level. Activation Procedure of a Regional Responding Hospital TAIWAN''S HOSPITAL PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE report back to the CECC on the results of inspections of negative pressure isolation wards, manpower mobilization, training and drill plans, PPE stockpile status, and transport procedures. cord-003503-t6cnjwpd 2019 Acknowledging the absence of a thorough investigation at the geographic level, we used 2014 outbreak sequence information from the Taiwan government''s open access databases plus GenBank records to analyze PEDV dissemination among Taiwanese pig farms. The data indicate that the 2014 Taiwan PEDV epidemic resulted from the spread of multiple strains, with strong correlations identified with pig farm numbers and sizes (measured as animal concentrations), feed mill numbers, and the number of slaughterhouses in a specifically defined geographic area. To determine specific temporal and geographic relationships associated with PEDV strain transmission, we used phylogenetic, phylodynamic and phylogeographic methods to systematically evaluate potential temporal and spatial transmission routes among Taiwanese swine farms during the 2014 outbreak. However, to date very few research efforts in Asia have utilized full genome sequencing for determining geographic structures due to the high costs and enormous amounts of computational time Phylogeographic investigation of 2014 porcine epidemic diarrhea virus transmission in Taiwan required for analyses [33, 34] . cord-007556-vqs3s55p 2013 title: Decrease in the incidence of meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus nosocomial bloodstream infections in Taiwan However, another recent study that enrolled 14 hospitals in Europe, North America and South America over a 10-year period (1998) (1999) (2000) (2001) (2002) (2003) (2004) (2005) (2006) (2007) demonstrated that the incidence of nosocomial bloodstream infections (BSIs) was increasing and that the increased incidence was mainly due to antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB), including MRSA [2] . In that study, the MRSA incidence density (events per 100 000 patient-days) increased from 3.1 to 11.7 with an annual increase of 10% in seven ARBendemic hospitals [2] . During the period 2000-2010, the incidence density of all nosocomial BSIs increased from 254.7 to 308.3 per 100 000 patient-days (P < 0.001), with an annual increase of 3.9% (95% CI 2.4-10.2%). For MRSA, the incidence density significantly decreased from 27.9 to 12.3 per 100 000 patient-days, with an annual decrease of 8.5% (95% CI 7.0-10.8%) over the 10-year study period (P < 0.001). cord-010142-i1nh9k3e 2016 cord-019032-vdiaexbw 2020 cord-022316-mh4pslnv 2009 Although there is no evidence of a threat from global terrorism in the People''s Republic of China (PRC) and the country''s image is seen as generally safe, there are some issues related to political instability, health, safety and security concerns that have caused disruptions in growth rates. Since safety and security directly influence decisions in international travel, this chapter researches the consequences of relevant events that have caused major disturbances in inbound tourism in the PRC, namely the Tiananmen Square incident and the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). Other epidemic diseases (such as HIV/AIDS, avian influenza, and mosquito-borne diseases); crime directed at foreigners in major cities and tourist areas; road and air safety; natural disasters (earthquakes, flooding, and typhoons); crossstrait relations; and restrictions on public demonstrations, political, and religious activities constitute important considerations that will be also addressed throughout the chapter. cord-023510-gd4phncm 2007 1. Can a significant discriminant function be developed to interpret the differences between respondents who did and did not visit theme parks during the SARS outbreak period in Taiwan on the basis of their personal characteristics? In addition to the information of respondents'' general demographics, their patronage frequency in the last year and whether they visited theme parks in the period of the SARS outbreak, the question content also consisted of scale items to measure ''''benefit sought,'''' ''''product involvement,'''' and ''''risk perception.'''' Ten individual benefit scale items were derived from Pearce''s (1993) Leisure Ladder Model for theme park visitors. Thus, on the one hand, whether or not the respondents visited theme parks during the SARS outbreak was adopted to be the dependant (criterion) variable; on the other, respondents'' age, their patronage frequency in the last year, and the factors condensed from scale items of respondents'' risk perception, benefit sought, and product involvement were adopted to be the independent variables (predictors) in the developing discriminant function. cord-023837-kenstpja 2019 cord-024045-mtfqaepe 2008 This study focuses on the history of construction and development of incinerators in Taiwan as well as the characteristics of pollutants, such as heavy metals (Pb, Cd, and Hg), acid gases (NO(x), SO(x), CO, and HCl), and dioxins emitted from the incinerators. Taiwan''s extensive experience in incinerator construction and operation may serve as an example for developing countries in devising waste treatment technology, energy recovery, and the control of contagious viral diseases. In order to speed up nation''s MSW treatment and resources recycling, the Taiwan government has formulated policies concerning the reduction of waste volume in recent years. Consequently, this study discusses statistics about pollutants like acid gases, heavy metals, and organics captured by the APCDs in incineration system during the past five years. Due to the improvement of flue gas treatment instrument/technique and the policy of resource recovery, all incinerators met the regulations of TEPA in heavy metal emission. cord-024982-4f6m3kfc 2020 title: Occupational health and safety hazards faced by healthcare professionals in Taiwan: A systematic review of risk factors and control strategies BACKGROUND: Healthcare professionals in Taiwan are exposed to a myriad of occupational health and safety hazards, including physical, biological, chemical, ergonomic, and psychosocial hazards. The impact of such hazards on healthcare professionals poses a serious public health issue in Taiwan; therefore, controlling, eliminating, or reducing exposure can contribute to a stronger healthcare workforce with great potential to improve patient care and the healthcare system in Taiwan. The International Labour Organization (ILO) 3 reported that millions of healthcare workers suffer from work-related diseases and accidents, and many succumb to occupational hazards. 9 This study reviewed previous works on OHS hazards, as well as their risk factors and control strategies, with a focus on healthcare professionals in Taiwan. We used the following key words in our literature search: occupational health and safety, risk factors, healthcare professionals, control strategies, and Taiwan cord-030504-442pnl5s 2020 BACKGROUND: Enterovirus 71 (EV71) is the most commonly implicated causative agent of severe outbreaks of paediatric hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD).VP1 protein, a capsid protein of EV71, is responsible for the genotype of the virus and is essential for vaccine development and effectiveness. These results suggest that the genetic characteristics of the EV71-VP1 region should be continuously monitored, which is critical for epidemic control and vaccine design to prevent EV71 infection in children. In this study, the VP1 sequences of all EV71 viruses registered in Gen-Bank in China from 1996 to 2019 were collected, and the molecular characteristics of genes were analysed using bioinformatics software to provide a scientific basis for the prevention and control of HFMD epidemics. In this study, the amino acid at position 145 in most strains was found to be E, with an E145G/Q mutation rate of 6.63%, suggesting that the emergence of this mutation may result in a virus that is more likely to infect human lymphocytes. cord-030602-nh0s3maw 2020 We investigated the impact of stepwise implementation of childhood PCV programs on the prevalence of pneumococcal pneumonia, severity of acute inflammation, and associations between breakthrough pneumonia and pneumococcal serotypes in Taiwan. Therefore, the overall purpose of the present study was to investigate the impact of stepwise implementation of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) on epidemiological change in pneumococcal CAP, including: 1) potential reduction in the prevalence of pneumococcal pneumonia, 2) whether or not childhood PCV vaccination affects the severity of acute inflammation in those who develop pneumococcal pneumonia, and 3) whether breakthrough pneumococcal pneumonia is associated with specific pneumococcal serotypes or not. Taken together, the results of these studies provide strong evidence supporting our finding that PCV vaccines may reduce the severity of acute inflammation in children with pneumococcal pneumonia attributed to serotypes 19A, 3, and 19F . Effectiveness of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines of different valences against invasive pneumococcal disease among children in Taiwan: a Nationwide study cord-033204-v17d98c9 2020 The country''s success mainly lies in three factors: (1) reliance on the mask policy as the main disease prevention measure and the ability to quickly expand mask production capacity; (2) use of big data and technology to enhance effective implementation of disease prevention and detection measures; and (3) strong state‐society relations favoring transparency, communication, and collaboration. I then turn to the crisis management framework, discussing how the developmental state foundations and the democratic regime lead to Taiwan''s success on mask policy, digital governance, and strong state-society collaboration and communication. Moreover, the capacity of a government to define and communicate the uncertainty the crisis brings is also an essential element in an effective response because collective sense-making can help increase citizens'' voluntary compliance. Specifically, during COVID-19, digital governance helped improve disease detection through integrated databases of people''s health records and travel history, through more accurate contact tracing, and through active surveillance tracking for people under quarantine. cord-253111-n5ywei4t 2018 title: Avian preparedness: simulations of bird diseases and reverse scenarios of extinction in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore This article describes relations between humans, animals, artefacts, and pathogens in simulations of disasters, taking bird diseases in three Chinese sentinel posts as ethnographic cases. Borrowing from the anthropology of hunting societies, it argues that simulations of bird diseases, considered as signs of future species extinction, rely on cynegetic techniques of power, in which humans and animals symmetrically shift perspectives, and not only on pastoralist techniques, in which humans are above the population they monitor and sometimes sacrifice. While public health relies on pastoral techniques of power combining sacrifice and surveillance to contain the threats coming from outside in a population (Foucault 1981) , the ''One World, One Health'' approach uses techniques from birdwatchers and wildlife managers to monitor data about changing relations between humans and animals. cord-256504-odbaubqm 2020 The questionnaire included items on the demographic characteristics of hospital staff and a scale to assess stress among healthcare workers caring for patients with a highly infectious disease. The five highest stress scores were observed for the items "rough and cracked hands due to frequent hand washing and disinfectant use," "inconvenience in using the toilet at work," "restrictions on eating and drinking at work," "fear of transmitting the disease to relatives and friends," and "fear of being infected with COVID‐19." Discomfort caused by protective equipment was the major stressor for the participants, followed by burden of caring for patients. This could be attributed to physical discomfort caused by protective equipment, also, nurses often Previous studies have shown that work stress is related to one''s demographic characteristics, 13, 17 and that child care at home is a common problem for hospital staff, 28, 29 which is an important factor leading to work-family conflicts. cord-257917-4496gzdu 2020 The purposes of the study were to determine the predictive relationships between Taiwanese nurses'' disaster competence, anticipatory disaster stress, and motivation for disaster engagement. Therefore, the purposes of the study were to determine the level of and relationships between Taiwanese nurses'' disaster competence, anticipatory disaster stress, and motivation for disaster engagement. In this study, individual differences are defined as a nurse''s personal characteristics that may influence their preparedness and motivation to engage in disaster events, such as gender, age, seniority in the hospital, educational level, hospital type, work unit, and job title. This study aimed to explore the relationships between disaster competence, anticipatory disaster stress, and motivation for disaster engagement among hospital nurses in Taiwan. The study found that even though hospitals held disaster courses and trainings every year, nurses had a worryingly low level of disaster competence, which correlated with their low motivation to participate in disaster rescue. cord-262646-64ldtrjf 2010 This study proposes a dynamic statistical model to estimate the daily number of new cases and the daily cumulative number of infected cases, which was then applied to historic dengue fever data. Our results show that when an infectious disease required a time-consuming process for diagnosis, such as the dengue fever using the previously mentioned protocol, the actual daily number of infected cases and cumulative positive cases are potentially underestimated. The Figure 3 and Table 1 for cumulative cases showed that a gamma distribution is a more appropriate assumption for the onset-todiagnosis time when estimating the probability of being a positive case using the dengue fever example; nonetheless, the difference between the gamma and the nonparametric method is again only slight except towards the end stage of the epidemic after January 1. This study has proposed a statistical method that more accurately estimates the real-time daily new cases and daily cumulative number of infected cases using a dengue fever epidemic as an example. cord-264560-hxvadp24 2020 The Taiwanese authorities have made efforts to contain the importation of the disease by issuing travel advisories and implementing flight bans, entry restrictions, airport screening, home quarantining of travellers from high-risk areas, isolation of confirmed cases, and thorough contact tracing [11] [12] [13] . Travellers entering Taiwan with fever or respiratory symptoms must have oropharyngeal specimens collected for COVID-19 testing and are subject to home quarantining for 14 days, as are travellers from areas where the disease is epidemic. Of the imported cases, 32.7% were identified in airport screening, 27.7% during home quarantine, 16.2% through contact tracing, and 23.4% sought medical attention themselves and were reported by the hospitals (Table 3 ). Proactive border control measures to contain the importation of COVID-19 via airport screening, quarantining of travellers from epidemic areas, and thorough contact tracing are effective for preventing community transmission of this disease. cord-265146-j0n3a4m6 2013 Furthermore, correlation analysis was carried out to assess the correlation between infections among the male and female IDUs. RESULTS: Model fit revealed a two-wave epidemic during April 2004–March 2007. Furthermore, correlation analysis was carried out to assess the correlation between infections among the male and female IDUs. Results: Model fit revealed a two-wave epidemic during April 2004-March 2007. Correlation analysis was performed in an attempt to determine the relationship between the male and female IDUs. The data used here were extracted from the monthly reported HIV case data between April 2004 and March 2007, for a total of 36 months, made available by the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (TCDC) on the TCDC website. The monthly time series data of reported HIV cases for male IDUs, female IDUs, and all IDUs in Taiwan were fit to the Richards model as in Figure 1 and Table 1 The effective reproduction number R was computed for each wave. cord-265774-oci77t99 2012 Until now, viral etiology of bronchiolitis in children in Taiwan has been limited, particularly the newly identified viruses, including human metapneumovirus (hMPV), human bocavirus (hBoV), and human coronavirus (hCoV) NL-63. To our knowledge, this is the first comprehensive viral etiology study of hospitalized pediatric patients with bronchiolitis, including newly identified respiratory viruses, in Taiwan. Results from the present study showed that RSV, hMPV, and hBoV were the most common viral pathogens for acute lower respiratory tract infection among hospitalized children, less than 2 years of age, in northern Taiwan.We demonstrated again that RSV remained the major pathogen in infants with bronchiolitis. In the present study, clinical characteristics of children with bronchiolitis due to different viral etiologies seemed similar, regardless of whether the infection was caused by single or multiple viruses. In our study, we also observed no statistical significance in clinical characteristics between children with bronchiolitis caused by different single viral infection. cord-266123-q75f12vh 2020 Cost Effectiveness and Resource Allocation *Correspondence: lmh.roger@msa.hinet.net † Wang Jong Yi and Lin Ming Hung contributed equally to this work 1 Department of Pharmacy and Master Program, Tajen University, Pintung 90741, Taiwan Full list of author information is available at the end of the article enhance the distribution-related outcomes of scarce public health management resources to target populations and communities. Given their proven performance record as being a reliable resource for helping to implement public health promotion initiatives by the Taiwanese government, community pharmacies were enlisted to assist in the distribution of face masks to citizens across the country. The community pharmacy-based approach to the distribution and sale of prevention face masks to citizens for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has proven to be a new and innovative engagement of pharmacists in contributing to the efficient, reliable, equitable, and costeffective implementation of public health promotion and protection initiatives by the government. cord-267136-1abp6oom 2004 Taiwan experienced a large number of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) viral infections between March and July 2003; by September of that year, 346 SARS cases were confirmed by RT-PCR or serological tests. In order to better understand evolutionary relationships among SARS coronaviruses (SCoVs) from different international regions, we performed phylogenetic comparisons of full-length genomic and protein sequences from 45 human SCoVs (including 12 from Taiwan) and two civet SCoVs. All the Taiwanese SARS-CoV strains which associated with nosocomial infection formed a monophyletic clade within the late phase of the SARS epidemic. To better understand evolutionary relationships between SCoVs isolated in Taiwan and those isolated in other parts of the world, we constructed phylogenetic trees with two different methods using full-length genomic sequences from 45 human (12 Taiwanese) and two civet SCoVs. Tree topologies were consistent for the NJ (Fig. 1a) and Pars (Fig. 1b) methods. Pairwise comparison methods were used to analyze nucleotide sequence variation within the full-length genomes of 20 human SCoVs (7 from early epidemic and 13 from late epidemic) (Fig. 2) . cord-268278-owmcxq9e 2012 However, other weather indicators, such as relative humidity (RH), wind speed (WS), water Science of the Total Environment 427-428 (2012) [41] [42] [43] [44] [45] [46] [47] [48] [49] Abbreviations: AIC, Akaike''s information criterion; AT, apparent temperature; CI, confidence interval; CWB, Central Weather Bureau; DLNM, distributed lag non-linear model; Flu, influenza; HI, heat index; NHRI, National Health Research Institute; PM 10 , particulate matter less than 10 μm in aerodynamic diameter; RR, relative risk; RH, relative humidity; TCDC, Taiwan Centers for Disease Control; THI, temperature humidity index; TEPA, Taiwan Environmental Protection Administration; WBGT, wet-bulb globe temperature; WS, wind speed; WVP, water vapor pressure. For each high-temperature index, data analysis further calculated area-specific cumulative 8-day (from lag 0 to lag 7 days) relative risks (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) to determine associations with daily deaths and outpatient visits, using distributed lag nonlinear model (DLNM) (Armstrong, 2006; Gasparrini et al., 2010) . cord-268370-kfjujs4z 2009 title: Hospitalization for Ambulatory-care-sensitive Conditions in Taiwan Following the SARS Outbreak: A Population-based Interrupted Time Series Study The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of the SARS outbreak on hospitalization for chronic ambulatory-care-sensitive conditions (ACSCs) in Taiwan. Methods We applied a population-based interrupted time series study design and used the time series auto-regressive integrated moving-average model to compare the actual and predicted admission rates of seven selected chronic ACSCs. The analyses were based on National Health Insurance hospital inpatient claims data from 1997 to 2003. We applied a population-based interrupted time series design to compare the actual with predicted hospitalization for ACSCs after the SARS outbreak, to identify conditions with increased hospitalization that might have been caused by untimely or inappropriate primary care during the SARS outbreak. We found that the actual hospitalization rates for six selected ACSCs, particularly respiratory conditions, were significantly lower than their predicted rates for at least 1 month during the SARS period. cord-269723-gm65p1op 2020 There were several studies about the psychiatric and mental health issues related to the severe adult respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003, however, the association between SARS and the overall risk of psychiatric disorders and suicides has, as yet, to be studied in Taiwan. A total of 285 patients with SARS and 2850 controls without SARS (1:10) matched for sex, age, insurance premium, comorbidities, residential regions, level of medical care, and index date were selected between February 25 and June 15, 2003 from the Inpatient Database Taiwan''s National Health Insurance Research Database. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study on the association between SARS and increased risk in developing psychiatric disorders and suicide, in a 12-year follow-up, from a nationwide, population-based database. cord-269772-4zrmsw2f 2015 Thus, understanding all possible factors associated with risk awareness, attitudes, and practice of prevention measures (RAP), as well as differences in risk perception of outbreaks due to LPAI versus HPAI viruses between the live-poultry market workers (LPMWs) and community residents (CRs) are all important for providing further education and implementing public health policies on preventing AI infection. Therefore, the data of the reported "acceptance of avian influenza vaccine between live-poultry market workers and community residents" were thus compared only after the 2nd survey in Table 4 respondents with higher risk perception (concerning human AI infections in Taiwan) before HPAI outbreaks had not only more awareness about the AI outbreaks in mainland China affecting Taiwan, but also better attitudes toward meeting domestic needs (endorsing the government''s new policy on AI, and supporting a ban on slaughtering live poultry in markets). cord-271660-5sfkhg19 2020 METHODS: We measured the impact of switch to fluorescent microscopy on the smear detection rate of culture-confirmed pulmonary TB, timing of respiratory isolation, and total non-isolated infectious person-days in hospital at a high-caseload medical center (approximately 400 TB cases annually) in Taipei. Hospitalized patients had typical presentations of pulmonary TB if they had: (a) a prolonged cough for >3 weeks; (b) clinical suspicion of pulmonary TB based on chest radiography, such as cavitary pulmonary lesions, upper lobe diseases, or miliary lesions; or (c) already received a confirmed diagnosis of pulmonary TB by a positive sputum culture of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, positive acid-fast stain (AFS), or positive TB PCR, before the hospitalization. Our previous survey on age/sex-standardised TB incidence ratio of HCWs (using general population as reference)---the excess TB risk that are attributable to nosocomial TB transmission---in Medical Center A showed a drop of this risk, from 3.11 in 2006 to 1.37 in 2012 [23] , and the decrease in time-to-isolation and total non-isolated infectious patient-days was in parallel in the present study. cord-272838-wjapj65w 2019 This study employs an extended gravity model to analyse the complementarity or competitiveness relationship of the number of inbound tourists and corresponding tourism revenue between China and 19 other nations under the implementation of China''s Open-door Tourism Policy to Taiwan in 2008. Other studies have indicated that factors such as the security of the travelling spot, gourmet food, and scenic views are crucial for tourism decisions (Cîrstea, 2014; Enright & Table 1 Total number of tourists from the major nations to Taiwan, 2001 Taiwan, -2017 Year The other four inbound nations are India, Thailand, the Philippines, and Vietnam. The purpose of this study is to employ an extended gravity model (EGM) to explore the relationship between the change in the number of inbound tourists and the corresponding tourism revenue from China and from visitors from 19 other major nations to Taiwan in 2001-2017 under China''s Open-door Policy to Taiwan. cord-273291-75j2axjd 2020 title: System dynamics evaluation of household water use behavior and associated greenhouse gas emissions and environmental costs: A case study of Taipei city A system dynamic model was developed to investigate interactions between household water use behaviors (toilet flushing, clothes washing, bathing/showering, and cleaning) and associated greenhouse gas emissions and environmental costs. The environmental cost of GHG emissions associated with water use behavior was US$0.001/t, causing an 8% increase in water price. Taking Taipei city as a case study, the model captures more water use behaviors including toilet flushing, clothes washing, bathing/showering, and cleaning than previous studies. Taiwan''s Water Resources Agency [62] found that toilet flushing (27 %), clothes washing (21 %), and bathing/ showering (20 %) were the highest contributors to household water use (Fig. 4) . Taking Taipei city as a case study, the model captures different behaviors including toilet flushing, clothes washing, bathing/showering, and cleaning. cord-275510-fotolimq 2020 At the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, the National Health Command Center (NHCC) of Taiwan, unifying a central command system that is composed of the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), the Biological Pathogen Disaster Command Center, the Central Medical Emergency Operations Center and the Counter-Bioterrorism Command Center, rapidly established several critical and timely actions including border control from the air and sea in early January, big data-and technology-based identification of cases, systematic quarantine of suspected cases, proactive case finding, resource allocation, daily press conference and extensive public education, negotiation with other countries and regions, formulation of policies for schools, childcare and nursing homes, and relief to businesses [1] . Facing the tremendous threat of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, governments all around the world should be well aware that more investments in public health, climate change countermeasures, a global health surveillance system, an effective research into identifying pathogens, subsequent treatment, vaccine development and effective health delivery systems are needed. cord-276197-gmx1p71j 2012 Abstract The role of fluoroquinolones (FQs) as empirical therapy for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) remains controversial in countries with high tuberculosis (TB) endemicity owing to the possibility of delayed TB diagnosis and treatment and the emergence of FQ resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The role of fluoroquinolones (FQs) as empirical therapy for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) remains controversial in countries with high tuberculosis (TB) endemicity owing to the possibility of delayed TB diagnosis and treatment and the emergence of FQ resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. RFQs have been shown to have excellent activity against key causative pathogens of CAP as well as atypical pathogens; however, use of RFQs for empirical treatment of CAP might mask the diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB), leading to delayed treatment and FQ resistance amongst subsequently isolated Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains. In addition, we review the controversies surrounding the empirical use of FQs to treat patients with CAP, treatment options for patients with a delayed TB diagnosis, and the emergence of FQ resistance amongst M. cord-279754-95zawygq 2017 After the SARS outbreak, Taiwan''s Centers for Disease Control (Taiwan CDC) followed the WHO outbreak communication guidelines on trust, early announcements, transparency, informing the public, and planning, in order to reform its risk communication systems. After the SARS outbreak, Taiwan''s Centers for Disease Control (CDC) followed the WHO outbreak communication guidelines-on trust, announcing early, transparency, informing the public, and planning-to reform its risk communication systems. In order to analyze the efficiency of risk communication on influenza vaccination, Taiwan CDC has monitored the toll-free hotline to identify topics that are of most concern to the public (eg, who are the target population, where to get the shot, adverse event reporting). The government of Taiwan has demonstrated considerable improvement in its risk communication practices during public health emergencies since the SARS outbreak in 2003. cord-280403-fcdmbo4c 2020 This study examines the relationship between proactive coping, future time orientation, and perceived work productivity during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, based on the work-from-home experience of employees in Taiwan and the United States (U.S.). The results show that in the relationship between proactive coping and perceived work productivity, future time orientation acts as a full mediator in Taiwan and a partial mediator in the U.S. The study extends the application of the COR theory to the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and offers important insights that will enable professionals to assess the role of proactive coping and future time orientation in their productivity evaluations of working tasks and to design appropriate training sessions. This study investigates the relationship between proactive coping, future time orientation, and perceived work productivity, based on the work-from-home experiences of two samples of employees during the COVID-19 pandemic. cord-285804-lyj9tua8 2017 In addition, a joint electronic procurement platform has been established for merchandising the replaced PPE to local health authorities and medical and other institutions for their routine or epidemic use. Based on the act, the central government, local health authorities, and medical institutions are required to maintain a minimum stockpile of PPE (including surgical masks, N95 respirators, and coveralls) to ensure a sufficient supply for epidemic prevention and frontline healthcare personnel during the early phase of an epidemic. After the SARS epidemic, the Taiwan CDC proposed ''''A Strategy Plan for PPE Minimum Stockpile'''' and established the 3-tier stockpiling framework-a central health authority (managed by the Taiwan CDC), local health authorities, and medical institutions-to effectively respond to emergent demands and spread the risk of stockpiling. In addition, to ensure the surge capacity during epidemic periods, the contractors must guarantee to provide 5 million surgical masks, 100,000 N95 respirators, and 15,000 coveralls within 14 days in response to an emergency request from the Taiwan CDC. cord-286014-cc99e24x 2003 To describe the clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). The first probable SARS patient in Taiwan returned from China via Hong Kong early in the global outbreak in February 2003. 7 We analyse the clinical, laboratory, and radiological features of patients with probable SARS who were seen at the Shin Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital (SKMH) in Taipei, Taiwan. 16 In our study, SARS-associated coronavirus RNA was detected in oropharyngeal swabs by RT-PCR in 16 (55.1%) of 29 patients at initial presentation. Case definitions for surveillance of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) A cluster of cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome in Hong Kong Severe acute respiratory syndrome in Singapore: clinical features of index patient and initial contacts Description and clinical treatment of an early outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in Guangzhou, PR China cord-286274-1tb3uha2 2009 The indicators of corporate performance under consideration are occupancy rate (OPR), return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE), stock return, and the overall financial performance measured by a comprehensive score (a combined measure of asset management, profitability, short-term solvency or liquidity and long-term solvency based on factor analysis). The effects of changes in the state of economy (real GDP growth rate, [Formula: see text]) and tourism growth (growth rate of total foreign tourist arrivals, [Formula: see text]) on the corporate performance of tourist hotels are then examined via panel regression tests. In consequence, this study enables us to evaluate the impact of economic condition and tourism expansion on the corporate performance of tourist hotels in terms of not only their sales revenue, profitability and stock performance but also the overall financial performance. The dummy variables of crisis events are incorporated into test regressions to control for their potential effects on interactions between the corporate performance of hotel firms and the two factors (economy and tourism growth). cord-287739-58fth3xl 2011 CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Through infection control measures, MRSA HAIs can be successfully controlled, even in areas with high levels of endemic MRSA infections such as our NICUs. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is among the most important pathogens of bacteremia in the intensive care units (ICU). To reduce and control healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) caused by MRSA, a ''''search and destroy'''' strategy, which first detects the patients with MRSA colonization and then decolonizes the MRSA with certain antimicrobial agents, was recently proposed and implemented in some hospitals of different countries, with inconsistent effects [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] . Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus colonization and its association with infection among infants hospitalized in neonatal intensive care units cord-288510-v90jryi2 2012 However, in the case of the 2009 World Games, the first international hallmark sporting event in Taiwan, the volume of hotel occupancies and revenue fell short of expectations, despite 4 years of planning and an investment of US$218 million. The reminder of this paper is as follows: Section 2 presents background information regarding the 2009 World Games and the ex-post analysis of the accommodation sector during the event; Sections 3 and 4 discuss the process and the results of personal interviews with representatives of the local business sector and municipal governments, while Section 5 provides implications and then concludes with discussion. From the perspective of the accommodation sector in Kaohsiung City, an elevated room price was a normal business practice because local hotels all expected that the WG would generate an influx of domestic and international visitors who were willing to pay premium prices to be part of this event. cord-288983-a6s9di4g 2020 The success of Taiwan for anti-epidemic measures included: quick response and efficient management, central production and distribution of masks/medical supplies, quarantine/isolation regulations with tracking contacts technology, and coordination between government, medical workers, public health professionals, and the whole Taiwanese society. In addition to the existing measure of onboard quarantine inspection, including fever screening of arriving passengers, suspected cases screening through history of travelling, occupation, contact and cluster (TOCC) inquiring, and health assessments conducting, all health care facilities should reinforce reporting severe cases of pneumonia among people who arrive in Taiwan from Wuhan. In light of the ongoing outbreak, CECC has introduced guidelines for high-risk individuals regarding 1) self-health management (reported cases who have tested negative and met criteria for being released from isolation, or people under "COVID-19 Community-based Surveillance), 2) 14-day home quarantine (with travel history), and 3) 14-day home isolation (who had contact with confirmed cases), and provided quarantine sites with free meals and a US$30 compensation per day during the 14-day period. cord-289378-ghmqd3yv 2020 We determined the subjective physical and psychological health states, cognitive and affective construct of health belief, perceived social support, mental health problems, adoption of protective behavior and demographic characteristics among 1954 respondents (1305 women and 649 men; mean age: 37.9 years with standard deviation 10.8 years). The association between the deterioration of physical and psychological health and adoption of protective behaviors against COVID-19 (avoiding crowded places, washing hands, and wearing a mask) and mental health problems (general anxiety, sleep problems, and suicidal ideation) was examined using multivariate logistic regression after controlling for the effects of gender, age, and educational level. Table 2 presents the results of the univariate logistic regression model examining the associations between demographic characteristics, cognitive and affective constructs of health beliefs related to COVID-19, perceived social support, and the subjective deterioration of physical and psychological health. cord-290119-2yao5a80 2008 The year 1995 marked the beginning of modern EMS in Taiwan when a lot of important concepts of EMS were put into legislation, The Emergency Medical Service Act. The law designated pre-hospital care as a function of fire administration at the central and local level. Over the last eight years, Taiwan''s EMS has undergone rapid development, including the implementation of off-line medical direction, establishment of national disaster response teams, and the introduction of automatic external defibrillators (AED) by EMTs. enabling the EMS to provide fire service based advanced life support (ALS). Physicians on the medical consulting committees (required by law) are responsible for the standards of patient care, including establishment of pre-hospital medical protocols and assistance in education of EMTs. However, a lack of specific tasking and full-time positions in the fire department for medical directors has resulted in the medical oversight remaining incomplete in terms of protocol revision, quality assurance, system design, and direct medical oversight. cord-290257-2u228xe9 2006 title: Confidence in controlling a SARS outbreak: Experiences of public health nurses in managing home quarantine measures in Taiwan This paper assesses factors related to public health nurses'' confidence in managing community SARS control programs. The third section contained questions (using 10-point Likert scale: 1 5 the worst to 10 5 the best) about the effectiveness of the nurse''s institution in managing the SARS epidemic, including the nurse''s assessment of (1) the institutional functioning on community home quarantine, (2) the quality of training received for controlling infectious disease outbreaks, and (3) the adequacy of support (for both manpower and financing) received from superior health agencies force commander said the epidemic situation was stable and advised people to return to their routine. In summary, public health nurses'' confidence in the control of a SARS outbreak and people''s compliance with quarantine measures are 2 major factors that can affect the success of a SARS-control program. cord-292337-74c69z28 2004 Because medical facilities are limited on these islands, the Department of Health authorized the National Aeromedical Consultation Center (NACC), a physician-based 24-hour control center that coordinates all aeromedical transport of critically ill or injured patients within Taiwan, to coordinate transporting these patients to designated SARS hospitals in Taipei. When leaving the pre-isolation room, the physician and the PIU were sprayed with a sodium hypochloride solution before the first layer of personal protective equipment was removed. Although one report by Christopher and Eitzen (2) suggested the value of an aeromedical team to evacuate patients with suspected lethal, infectious diseases, limited evidence supported a safer means of transportation that would possibly reduce transmission of SARS to persons taking part in the mission. Interim guidance: air medical transport for severe acute respiratory syndromes (SARS) patients cord-292660-02oynmvt 2020 authors: Tsai, Jong‐Rung; Yang, Chih‐Jen; Huang, Wei‐Ling; Chen, Yen‐Hsu title: Decline in invasive pneumococcus diseases while combating the COVID‐19 pandemic in Taiwan According to the Taiwan CDC, there has been a marked decline in invasive pneumococcus disease since February 2020 compared with cases in the past 5 years (Figure 1 ). "Invasive pneumococcal disease" is defined as an infection confirmed by the isolation of S pneumoniae from a normally sterile site, such as blood, cerebrospinal fluid, and pleural, joint, or peritoneal fluid. 5 Invasive pneumococcus is a notifiable disease, and it must be reported to the Taiwan CDC within 1 week. We believe that the reduction in invasive pneumococcus disease has been influenced by the current preventive strategies for COVID-19 in Taiwan. Chih-Jen Yang 2 Wei-Ling Huang 2 Effectiveness of masks and respirators against respiratory infections in healthcare workers: A systematic review and meta-analysis Rational use of face masks in the COVID-19 pandemic cord-293268-6l1fyl93 2020 At the early stage of the outbreak, the strategy in Taiwan had three pillars: real-time surveillance with rapid risk assessment, border control and quarantine, and laboratory capacity building. 5 CECC then announced several policies in response to the worsening outbreak in China, including border control and home quarantine requirement for travelers from affected countries and areas; export ban of surgical masks and N95 respirators to secure the domestic use; strengthening the preparedness of Communicable Disease Control Medical Network for patient isolation and clinical management; and risk communication with the public through daily press and social media such as Line app and Facebook. 6 After China released the whole genome sequence of SARS-CoV-2 on January 10, Taiwan CDC''s national reference laboratory immediately set up the real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test for the virus. CECC already charted the next steps in COVIDFigure 1 The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Taiwan by reporting date, January 15eFebruary 29 and the implementation of disease control measures. cord-293403-o1i999hy 2004 cord-293430-h4r0jpy5 2008 We report 5 years'' surveillance data from the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control on unexplained deaths and critical illnesses suspected of being caused by infection. In 2000, the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control collaborated with academic institutions, medical examiners, local health authorities, and experts from different fi elds to establish a nationwide surveillance center for outbreak and unexplained death investigation due to unknown infectious causes (COUNEX) (Figure) . Local health authorities, hospitals, or clinics report suspected infection-related cases through the "notifiable infectious disease surveillance system," "syndromic surveillance system," and toll-free notification hotline Figure. *If unexplained infectious causes were suspected, COUNEX mobilized an investigation team including experts, fi eld epidemiology training program members, public health workers from the local branch of Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (TCDC), and public health authorities to proceed with further fi eld investigation. cord-294452-432t0q7w 2019 This study evaluated the differences in health service utilization, health care expenditures, and quality of care provided to patients with unexplained fever before and after global budget (GB) implementation in Taiwan. [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] Here, we evaluated the differences in health service utilization, health care expenditures, and quality of care among patients with unexplained fever before and after GB system implementation by using NHI Research Database (NHIRD) data. The independent variables evaluated in this study included pre-post GB, age, gender, income state index, Charlson comorbidity index, the three hospital levels, and the six geographic areas in Taiwan. There were significant differences in LOS, diagnostic costs, therapy costs, total costs, 3-day ED revisiting rate, and 14-day readmission rate before and after implementation of the GB system among patients with www.md-journal.com unexplained fever (P = .03, P = .001, P < .001, P = .01, P = .02, P = .04, respectively). cord-296752-jvhgrsbm 2020 cord-300815-1vy787md 2018 We integrated the data from all entry-exit ports in mainland China to characterise travel-related infections, define the demographic features of imported cases, identify risk groups and exposure countries or regions, and assess the effectiveness of surveillance for further improvement. However, hepatitis B and C virus infections, syphilis, HIV, malaria, and dengue were substantially more common in the international group, whereas respiratory infections with rhinovirus, para influenza virus and metapneumovirus, and hand, foot, and mouth disease were more common in travellers from Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan ( figure 3) . Our findings, which are based on surveillance data for 45 infections among 22 797 travellers who arrived at the 272 entry-exit ports to the mainland, are helpful for increasing public health awareness about the potential risk of imported infections. cord-303528-4myoqms8 2005 Abstract Recent developments in the South China Sea (SCS) and the actions expected to be taken by China and member states of ASEAN in accordance with the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the SCS have the potential to further marginalize Taiwan''s role in any serious discussion on SCS issues and then deprive Taiwan of its legitimate rights and interest in the area. Recent developments in the SCS and the actions expected to be taken by China and member states of ASEAN in accordance with the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (SCSCOP Declaration) 3 have the potential to further marginalize Taiwan''s role in any serious discussion on SCS issues and then deprive of Taiwan''s legitimate rights and interest in the area. China is holding the key to Taiwan''s involvement in the regional security dialogue process on the SCS issues and its participation in any of the proposed co-operative activities in the Spratly area between China and the ASEAN based on the guidelines underlined in the SCSCOP Declaration. cord-306259-vi997dms 2010 cord-308353-7ctp8bem 2013 BACKGROUND: Serratia marcescens is an important nosocomial pathogen and the characteristic property of resistance conferred by extended-spectrum beta-lactamase or a novel AmpC cephalosporinase was not unusual in Taiwan. marcescens isolates were collected biennially between 2002 and 2010 from medical centers and regional hospitals throughout Taiwan, as part of the Taiwan Surveillance of Antimicrobial Resistance program. Overall, 99.3% isolates were susceptible to imipenem, 93.8% to ceftazidime, 89.2% to minocycline, 87.8% to amikacin, 86.8% to cefepime, 82.9% to aztreonam, 73.2% to ceftriaxone, 72.7% to levofloxacin, 63.8% to ciprofloxacin, 60.8% to trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (TMP/SMX), and 59.6% to gentamicin. S. marcescens isolates demonstrated relatively higher resistance to ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin, and therefore continued surveillance of antimicrobial resistance, especially for fluoroquinolone, is warranted. marcescens isolates were collected biennially between 2002 and 2010, corresponding to periods IIIeVII of the Taiwan Surveillance of Antimicrobial Resistance (TSAR) program, from medical centers and regional hospitals throughout Taiwan. cord-309133-0jh84w6f 2020 cord-310438-744r7gc3 2010 This study evaluated the effect of matching/mismatching vaccine strains, type/subtype pattern changes in Taiwan''s influenza viruses, and the impact of post-SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) public health efforts on excess influenza-associated mortalities among the elderly. The aims of this study were: (1) to evaluate the effectiveness of matching or mismatching influenza vaccine strains on influenzaassociated mortality, (2) to assess whether public health improvements during the post-SARS period might have decreased elderly mortality, and (3) to investigate molecular variation among vaccine-mismatched influenza viruses that may be associated with increased excess influenza-associated mortality. Explanatory variables for the above three outcome measures include monthly meteorological parameters (monthly means of temperature and humidity), annual periodic cycle (i.e., sine/cosine function of seasonal periodicity), monthly virus isolation rates for different subtypes/types of influenza viruses [A (H3N2) or A (H1N1) or B], matching status of different vaccine strains for each subtype/type in each of the studied years, post-SARS effect, and linear temporal monthly trends. cord-315723-unhg20e9 2020 cord-316278-niurdu7t 2008 cord-317093-c70c1op4 2015 cord-317753-x8faz08x 2020 These policies may not only reduce the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) but may also have similar effects on spread of other infectious diseases (2,3). Using nationwide weekly surveillance data (4), we compared the activity of common infections during 2015-2020 with the timeline of actions and policies implemented to protect against spread of SARS-CoV-2 in Taiwan. By comparing the cost of SARS-CoV-2 prevention and the effect on the economy and health during the pandemic in Taiwan and other areas, we could evaluate the cost-effectiveness of these measures and use this information to develop policies for future disease control. To determine whether policies to limit transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) hinder spread of other infectious diseases, we analyzed the National Health Insurance database in Taiwan. To determine whether policies to limit transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) hinder spread of other infectious diseases, we analyzed the National Health Insurance database in Taiwan. cord-318336-hslnkv6p 2020 cord-321691-46la29tm 2004 cord-322451-cwpz4akv 2004 cord-324798-qh0cxp10 2020 cord-326924-4h4q9h02 2018 cord-328229-dybchjfl 2020 key: cord-328229-dybchjfl title: Sentinel surveillance at airports: Experience of dengue and COVID‐19 prevention in Taiwan cord_uid: dybchjfl These findings revealed that sentinel surveillance at airports detected 3.3% to 14% of dengue cases and 29.2% of imported COVID-19 cases in Taiwan, even though a high number of passengers were screened and the positive rate of symptomatic passengers was low. In addition to sentinel surveillance, other interventions at airports such as onboard quarantine announcements and home quarantine notices delivered to each passenger highlight the multidisciplinary measures at national gates required to effectively prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2, especially during the containment stage of pandemic control. Epidemiologic and clinical characteristics of 91 hospitalized patients with COVID-19 in Zhejiang, China: a retrospective, multi-centre case series Airport sentinel surveillance and entry quarantine for dengue infections following a fever screening program in Taiwan Phylogenetic study of dengue-3 virus in Taiwan with sequence analysis of the core gene cord-330260-xuw31zfn 2009 cord-330674-enq6kgab 2014 INTRODUCTION: Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been used to treat upper respiratory tract infections/common colds (URTIs) in Asian countries for over 2000 years. METHODS: The TCM treatments for patients consulting with an URTIs were analyzed from the National Health Insurance Research Database using the appropriate codes from the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification diagnoses for Taiwan in 2009. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been used to treat upper respiratory tract infections/common colds (URTIs) in Asian countries for over 2000 years. A number of Chinese herbs have been used to treat URTIs. TCM treatment of disease in Taiwan is generally in accordance with TCM theories and the personal experience of the CMDs. Our results showed that Yin-Qiao-San was the most popular TCM formula that was used to treat URTIs. Yin-Qiao-San first appeared in the record of WenBingTiaoBian (1798-1836 A.D.) and remains a common TCM prescription for treating seasonal influenza [35] , as well as the common cold, fever, cough, and other respiratory tract diseases [36] . cord-331123-8e1fkafa 2020 cord-331148-40gvay7i 2018 cord-333225-654rd38j 2020 cord-333976-zhiuuwv1 2017 cord-337546-60xq8dpg 2020 cord-340385-ffk0ifwy 2008 cord-340402-fmnle8iy 2020 cord-340889-ff35696d 2020 cord-341105-3uvbfp8c 2020 cord-342157-qjyooq68 2008 cord-343634-ybouh0cw 2020 In this review, I pinpoint some background on the systems and organizations that helped Taiwan streamline a task force (Command Center) in a timely manner to launch related initiatives, mobilize the public, and engage private resources to implement the strategies and policies which were further enhanced by collaborative behaviors and volunteers. According to the authorization of Enforcement Regulations Governing the Central Epidemics Command Center, the CECC commanding officer has the unified authority to command, supervise, and coordinate government organizations at various levels, public enterprises, reserved servicemen''s organizations, and non-governmental organizations to implement disease control matters. Based on these and later border controls, the CECC required all travelers arriving in Taiwan to be quarantined for 14 days and their information to be passed to local governments. Taiwan CDC announces activation of Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) for Severe Special Infectious Pneumonia to comprehensively prevent novel coronavirus pneumonia outbreak in China and ensure health of Taiwanese public cord-343780-084lq92r 2018 cord-344813-dlpn3l0j 2020 cord-346515-8wqpvf68 2014 Based on the abovementioned findings, several important conclusions were made, which includes: 1) the designation of the PoEs should be based on consensus; 2) the stakeholders with the responsibility of implementing the core capacities should be brought together, not only from the health sector, but also from other public and private sectors; 3) the successful implementation of this program requires strong support from the cabinet and its subordinate organizations; 4) a coordination mechanism, with clear functions and structure, is necessary; 5) an agreed protocol, which clarifies the strategies, timeline, and multidisciplinary/multisectoral duties, is essential, and 6) all strategies should be harmonized with the currently available resources, national administrative structure, and consensus made by the participants. cord-354780-yzyixucr 2020 cord-355280-l8pbw4ry 2013 cord-355448-ed3fth3i 2020 Because of the importance of determining the level of psychological distress and understanding the psychobehavioural consequences of COVID-19 in the general public while the epidemic is still ongoing, our main objective in this study was to investigate the anxiety symptoms caused by COVID-19, and use of preventive measures against COVID-19, among the general public. We also aimed to compare the anxiety symptoms and preventive measures during the week immediately prior to the study, while the outbreak was still on the rise, and at the time the COVID-19 outbreak was first reported in China. Despite it being widely circulated in the news media that older adults affected by COVID-19 likely have a higher risk of complications and mortality, and the recent large epidemiological data from the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention that shows that those above 60 years of age accounted for 44.1% of confirmed cases in Wuhan [33] , our study''s participants in the older age group appear to have a lower level of anxiety.