Yi-shan Cai, who gave birth to a child earlier this year, expressed her concern about the susceptibility to enterovirus in children.Ms. Cai together with her husband, Sheng-wen Lian, called on parents of newborn children to ensure that they have taken measures to protect their children by washing their hands, being on the lookout for enterovirus infection and symptoms, and minimizing youngsters’ exposure to public places.Following these simple steps can go a long way towards protecting children from enterovirus infection.

To help spread the word about measures that every family should take to prevent the spread of enterovirus infection, Taiwan Centers for Diseases Control recently (Taiwan CDC) introduced a new song called “The Battle Against Enterovirus”.The song is intended to raise awareness of this serious infectious disease, and teach children and all citizens about what they can do to prevent it.

At a press conference held on June 4, 2008, Ms. Cai emphasized the importance of keeping hands clean with thorough and frequent hand-washings.She stressed, for instance, when returning home from the outside, it is advisable that people first change clothes, and then wash their hands before coming into contact with infants and young children.Additionally, it is also important to wash hands before feeding children and after changing diapers.Effective and thorough hand-washing includes the following steps: wet hands with running water; place soap in palms; rub together to make a lather; scrub hands vigorously for at least 20 seconds; rinse soap off hands.More importantly, clean hands can help keep a family healthy!

In addition, Mr. Lian pointed out that his wife has always been a stickler for clean hands, and light-heartedly referred to her as a “Hand-Washing Enforcer”.After having their first baby earlier this year, Mr. Lian said, Ms. Cai has become even more particular about keeping hands clean.Mr. Lian added that, as a public figure, he comes in contact with a lot of people.As a result, when he returns home, he too makes sure he cleans his hands thoroughly to reduce the possibility of infecting his baby with enterovirus. Moreover, Mr. Lian even joked that if he ever forgets to wash his hands when he returns home, he is haunted by nightmares.

At the press conference, the Deputy Director of Taiwan CDC, Zhi-hao Zhou, said that statistics has hown that this year’s enterovirus epidemic is more serious than those that occurred in the past years.Although the current enterovirus epidemic may be alarming, good personal hygiene habits can reduce the chances of infection.Chief among these habits is ensuring that the entire family is diligent about keeping their hands clean.On the other hand, Ms. Cai also mentioned that during epidemic outbreaks, parents should stay cautious and be conservative about taking infants out to public places.She added that if parents are sick themselves, they should avoid contact with infants, and if contact is unavoidable, they should definitely wear a mask.

During the press conference, Deputy Director Zhou stressed that children under three years old have relatively weak immune systems.Therefore, they are more susceptible to enterovirus infection through hugs and kisses from adults and playing with other children.Children diagnosed by a physician as being infected with enterovirus should be closely observed, and taken to the hospital immediately if they exhibit any of the following symptoms: drowsiness, lethargy, muscle weakness, myoclonic jerk, persistent vomiting, fever, irritability, shortness of breath, or tachycardia , or rapid heartbeat..

At the end of the press conference, Mr. Zhou, Ms. Cai, and Mr. Lian all donned boxing gloves to appeal to parents to practice proper hand-washing techniques, be on the lookout for enterovirus infection and symptoms in children, and minimize children’s exposure to public places.Following the three aforementioned simple steps can help prevent enterovirus infection.