In July, “King of the Blogosphere”, Lucifer Chu and his son both became infected with enterovirus. First, Mr. Chu’s 2 year-old son, Little Pang, contracted the infection at his nursery school. Lucifer, then, was infected after sharing a breakfast meal with Little Pang. After going through this difficult experience, Lucifer decided to lend his influence to the Taiwan CDC efforts to prevent and control the infection by visiting nursery school and spreading the concept “If You’re Sick, Do Not Attend School; Keep Viruses Away.

Little Pang was enrolled in a nursery school that suspended classes after an outbreak of enterovirus infection was detected. Three days later, Little Pang had a high fever and an outbreak of blisters. A visit with a physician confirmed that he did indeed contract the enterovirus. At the time, Lucifer’s wife was staying at a postpartum clinic for her month of rest after delivering the couple’s second child. Little Pang was prohibited from visiting her, for fear of infecting mom and the newborn. Lucifer went online for more information about the virus and, accordingly, commenced disinfection of his home and his son’s toys with bleach.

After nearly two weeks, Little Pang showed signs of recovery from the enterovirus infection. Lucifer was unaware that adults could be infected during this remission period and shared a breakfast meal with Little Pang. And, sure enough, Lucifer did indeed contract the virus from his son. On his Facebook Wall, Lucifer described his experience and noted that the most miserable part of contracting enterovirus was the outbreak of blisters in his mouth, which made eating difficult and painful. He said that it was like “stuffing a cactus in my mouth and washing it down with a big glass of spicy hotpot broth!” After witnessing his father’s miserable experience, Little Pang quickly became a diligent hand-washer – all it takes is a little reminder that if he does not wash his hands, he will become infected with enterovirus. And now, with a newborn baby in the house, Lucifer, too, has become obsessed with keeping a clean domicile to minimize the risk of infection.

As students return to school in September, the risk of enterovirus infection also increases. According to a 2009-2010 survey report conducted by the National Health Research Institute and the Department of Health (which consisted of interviews of 1,128 children, aged 3 to 11 years of age), more than 38% of children  still attended school after visiting a physician for an illness.

To start the new school semester on a healthy note, the Taiwan CDC is kicking off a public health campaign entitled “Clean Hands Are Healthy Hands; Keep Enterovirus Away”. The campaign reminds children and parents that “If You’re Sick Do Not Attend School; Keep Viruses Away”. During the campaign, Lucifer Chu will be sharing his experience with students, parents and school administrators. Mr. Chu will emphasize that when a child is ill, it is not enough to simply take him to see a physician; sick children should also rest at home, rather than attending classes and risk spreading a virus to schoolmates. This concept is an important component of the Taiwan CDC’s prevention and control strategy for enterovirus and other infection diseases.