Japanese Author Worried About HIV After Rescuing MRT Attack Victim Tests Negative, Thanks Lo Yi-chun
Japanese author Kouta Kinoshita, who helped stop the bleeding of victims in the random stabbing incident on the Taipei MRT late last year, reported testing negative for HIV after a 3-month period. He expressed gratitude to Taiwan CDC Director Lo Yi-chun for his cross-border medical guidance and support.
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- 📰 Published: April 22, 2026 at 18:43
- 🔍 Collected: April 22, 2026 at 19:02 (18 min after Published)
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 23, 2026 at 14:55 (19h 53m after Collected)
Central News Agency
(CNA Reporter Shen Pei-ju, Taipei, 22nd) The random stabbing incident on the Taipei MRT late last year shocked society. At that time, Japanese author Kouta Kinoshita enthusiastically helped stop the bleeding of the victims. He recently expressed his gratitude across borders to Lo Yi-chun, Director-General of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), stating that following his advice, the HIV test result after 3 months came back negative. Netizens flooded the comments with "That's great."
Going back to the evening of December 19th last year, a shocking random stabbing incident occurred at the Zhongshan Station of the Taipei MRT. Passing Japanese author Kouta Kinoshita later posted on the social platform X that he saw someone slashed and bleeding on the ground, and stepped forward to help stop the bleeding.
Due to massive blood splatters at the scene, and because one of the victims was an HIV (AIDS) patient—who, although reported and under stable control with medication, still raised public concern about infection risks—the Ministry of Health and Welfare's CDC immediately initiated a post-exposure consultation and public-funded medication project for the incident. They emphasized that the probability of HIV infection due to blood exposure is less than one in 10,000, and preventive medication can reduce the risk to zero, urging the public not to worry excessively.
Kouta Kinoshita posted on social media yesterday to report his safety to Lo Yi-chun and the public: "Because I participated in the rescue operation of the December 19th Taipei terrorist attack, Mr. Lo Yi-chun advised me to be cautious and undergo a blood test after 3 months. The test results for HIV (which had no infection risk from the start), Hepatitis B, and Hepatitis C are out, and all are negative. I hereby report this to everyone who cared about me."
This "cross-border consultation," interwoven with medical expertise and human touch, added warmth to the serious epidemic prevention work. Lo Yi-chun recalled today that after seeing Mr. Kinoshita express anxiety and concern through the media following the incident, he decided to take the initiative. He contacted him through social media, and considering Kinoshita was on his way back to Japan, Lo used his medical expertise to continually comfort him online and discuss risk assessments.
Over the past three months, the two kept in touch like friends, until Mr. Kinoshita happily sent the negative test results at the 3-month mark, formally putting an end to the concerns over his heroic rescue act. Lo Yi-chun expressed his gratification, saying this means Mr. Kinoshita can finally drop the heavy stone in his heart.
Regarding the execution status of the post-exposure consultation channels and the public-funded PEP project for this incident, CDC Spokesperson Tseng Shu-hui explained in a media telephone interview that a total of 9 people applied for the public-funded Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) project. Among them, 1 was medical personnel, and the remaining 8 were general public members. All were given PEP after evaluation by a doctor, and current follow-up HIV test results are all negative.
In addition, the 1922 epidemic prevention hotline received a total of 29 consultation calls from the public. Of these, 22 were forwarded to the CDC Regional Control Centers for further explanation and reply, and 16 cases were provided with the contact numbers of dedicated physicians.
Tseng Shu-hui emphasized that the testing and tracking timeline for suspected HIV infection is a baseline at the time of exposure (starting point), 4 to 6 weeks post-exposure, and after 12 weeks (3 months). If the follow-up result after 12 weeks (3 months) is negative, infection can be ruled out. (Editor: Lee Shu-hua)
(CNA Reporter Shen Pei-ju, Taipei, 22nd) The random stabbing incident on the Taipei MRT late last year shocked society. At that time, Japanese author Kouta Kinoshita enthusiastically helped stop the bleeding of the victims. He recently expressed his gratitude across borders to Lo Yi-chun, Director-General of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), stating that following his advice, the HIV test result after 3 months came back negative. Netizens flooded the comments with "That's great."
Going back to the evening of December 19th last year, a shocking random stabbing incident occurred at the Zhongshan Station of the Taipei MRT. Passing Japanese author Kouta Kinoshita later posted on the social platform X that he saw someone slashed and bleeding on the ground, and stepped forward to help stop the bleeding.
Due to massive blood splatters at the scene, and because one of the victims was an HIV (AIDS) patient—who, although reported and under stable control with medication, still raised public concern about infection risks—the Ministry of Health and Welfare's CDC immediately initiated a post-exposure consultation and public-funded medication project for the incident. They emphasized that the probability of HIV infection due to blood exposure is less than one in 10,000, and preventive medication can reduce the risk to zero, urging the public not to worry excessively.
Kouta Kinoshita posted on social media yesterday to report his safety to Lo Yi-chun and the public: "Because I participated in the rescue operation of the December 19th Taipei terrorist attack, Mr. Lo Yi-chun advised me to be cautious and undergo a blood test after 3 months. The test results for HIV (which had no infection risk from the start), Hepatitis B, and Hepatitis C are out, and all are negative. I hereby report this to everyone who cared about me."
This "cross-border consultation," interwoven with medical expertise and human touch, added warmth to the serious epidemic prevention work. Lo Yi-chun recalled today that after seeing Mr. Kinoshita express anxiety and concern through the media following the incident, he decided to take the initiative. He contacted him through social media, and considering Kinoshita was on his way back to Japan, Lo used his medical expertise to continually comfort him online and discuss risk assessments.
Over the past three months, the two kept in touch like friends, until Mr. Kinoshita happily sent the negative test results at the 3-month mark, formally putting an end to the concerns over his heroic rescue act. Lo Yi-chun expressed his gratification, saying this means Mr. Kinoshita can finally drop the heavy stone in his heart.
Regarding the execution status of the post-exposure consultation channels and the public-funded PEP project for this incident, CDC Spokesperson Tseng Shu-hui explained in a media telephone interview that a total of 9 people applied for the public-funded Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) project. Among them, 1 was medical personnel, and the remaining 8 were general public members. All were given PEP after evaluation by a doctor, and current follow-up HIV test results are all negative.
In addition, the 1922 epidemic prevention hotline received a total of 29 consultation calls from the public. Of these, 22 were forwarded to the CDC Regional Control Centers for further explanation and reply, and 16 cases were provided with the contact numbers of dedicated physicians.
Tseng Shu-hui emphasized that the testing and tracking timeline for suspected HIV infection is a baseline at the time of exposure (starting point), 4 to 6 weeks post-exposure, and after 12 weeks (3 months). If the follow-up result after 12 weeks (3 months) is negative, infection can be ruled out. (Editor: Lee Shu-hua)