On June 14, 2016, the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (Taiwan CDC) announced one new case of enterovirus 71 infection with severe complications in a 1-year-and-4-month-old baby boy, which is this year’s six case of enterovirus 71 infection with severe complications. As of now, the case has recovered and been discharged from the hospital. According to the epidemiological investigation, none of the family members residing in the same household has developed suspected symptoms. Further, the case had not come into contact with other sick children. However, the case visited a Parent-Child Center during the incubation period. Therefore, the source of the case’s infection might be someone he came to contact with at a public place or an asytompatic caretaker.

As severe cases progress rapidly, when a child in a household is diagnosed with enterovirus infection, parents and child caregivers are urged to refrain the sick child from close contact with other children to prevent further spread of the disease and watch for the development of prodromal symptoms of severe enterovirus infection in the sick child such as drowsiness, disturbed consciousness, inactivity, flaccid paralysis, myoclonic jerk, continuous vomiting, tachypnea, and tachycardia to ensure timely treatment.　If any of the abovementioned symptoms develops, please take the child to a large hospital for medical attention immediately in order to ensure prompt treatment.　

According to Taiwan CDC’s surveillance data, the overall enterovirus activity in Taiwan has continued to increase. During Week 23, June 5 and 11, 2016, which coincided with the Dragon Boat Festival weekend, the number of visits to outpatient services and ER for enterovirus infection in the nation was 25,859, which is 2% higher than that reported during the previous week. Moreover, 8 new cases of enterovirus 71 infections were confirmed in Taipei City, Yilan County, Taichung City, and Hualien County. Thus far this year, as of June 14, 60 cases of EV71 infection, including 49 mild cases, 3 suspected severe cases, and 6 severe cases, have been confirmed. Currently, Coxsackie A virus is the dominant strain circulating in the community. Additionally, a cumulative total of 64 suspected severe cases of enterovirus infection have been reported. Among them, 6 were found to be infected with EV71, 43 were tested negative for enterovirus, and the test results of 15 cases are still pending. At the moment, Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore and China have all reported increasing or high levels of enterovirus activity with a higher number of cases reported compared to the same period last year. On the other hand, Vietnam and Japan have reported the same or low levels of enterovirus activity with a lower number of cases reported compared to the same period last year.

Taiwan CDC once again stresses that enterovirus is highly contagious and infants and children aged below 5 are at increased risk of developing enterovirus infection with severe complications. Therefore, child caretakers and parents are advised to ensure the playground and the facilities their child plays with are disinfected and cleaned once daily and urge their child to wash the hands with soap and water before and after playing with the facilities. When the child is sick, he/she should rest at home and be refrained from visiting playgrounds. In addition, child caretakers must take the child to use the bathroom regularly to ensure the cleanliness of the environment. For more information, please visit the Taiwan CDC website at http://www.cdc.gov.tw or call the toll-free Communicable Disease Reporting and Consultation Hotline, 1922 (or 0800-001922).