We cannot say we were really worried about this one.   Regular tourism between the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Taiwan has been underway since last July.  Apparently worry-warts have been concerned that the mainland tourists might spread Hepatitis A to residents of the island nation.

With Taiwan and China getting along, we’d hate to see anything come between them.  After all, once enough of those pink-shirted mainland tourists come visiting the island, could anything other than lasting peace be far behind?  

So, this is good news.  The Taiwan News is reporting today that Chinese tourists’ arrivals won’t cause hepatitis A epidemic according to its Centers for Disease Control.  According The News:

"Hepatitis A infection is highly related to environmental hygiene,… Taiwan’s basic public health conditions have been largely improved compared to 20 years ago. It is unlikely that (the disease) will break out here," said Lin Ting, CDC deputy director-general.

Lin said that even if Chinese tourists with hepatitis A come to Taiwan and spread the virus, there would be only a few individual cases, not an epidemic.

But he noted that most young Taiwanese people under age 30 do not have the antibody to hepatitis A. If these people make frequent visits to Southeast Asia and mainland China and stay there for a long period of time, they must be careful about eating local food and environmental hygiene, to prevent from getting hepatitis A.

Getting a vaccination is the most efficient way to avoid contracting the infectious disease, Lin said, encouraging people to be vaccinated.

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