During Week 22, the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (Taiwan CDC) confirmed an EV 71 case in a three-year-and-six-month-old boy who is unschooled and resides in Bade District, Taoyuan City. The boy is usually attended and cared for by his mother. Prior to disease onset, he visited his mother’s home in Xiamen, China with his mother. When he returned to Taiwan on May 31, he developed fever in the evening. On the next day, he sought medical attention at a clinic and was diagnosed with enterovirus infection. When his fever persisted and he developed pharyngitis, loss of appetite, and muscle twitching, he sought medical attention at a clinic. On June 3, the case was sent to a hospital for hospitalization and treatment. On June 9, he was discharged and returned home. Although the case still experiences a mild cough, he is in good health. The case lives with his parents and no other children reside in the same household. At his mother’s home in Xiamen, there are four older cousins and two of them have experienced fever and throat ulcer.

To ensure the health of infants and children, Taiwan CDC has reinforced the virus surveillance in the area where the case resides. In addition, Taiwan CDC has worked closely with the Ministry of Education, the Social and Family Affairs Administration, and local governments and completed inspecting the provision of hand-washing supplies and hand hygiene education in schools. The aforementioned authorities have also reinforced hygiene inspection of public places frequented by children such as playgrounds, department stores and restaurants and assist institutional managers and business operators in maintaining proper and thorough environmental hygiene and conducting disinfection practices in order to eliminate as many potential sources of enterovirus transmission as possible. Child care facilities are advised to clean and disinfect the environment regularly, implement thorough case reporting, and suspend classes when a cluster of cases occurs according to the relevant regulations established by the local government in order to reduce the spread of enterovirus. Child caregivers, including parents and family members, are advised to reinforce the importance of frequent hand washing and good hand washing technique for all children.

According to surveillance data collected by Taiwan CDC, the ER consultation rate for enterovirus infection during Week 23 remained about the same level as that during the previous week. However, the outpatient consultation rate for enterovirus infection is higher than that during the previous week. Currently, Coxsackie A virus is the dominant strain circulating in the community, accounting for approximately 73.5% of all cases.. During Week 22, one sample tested positive for EV71 was identified in the community. As of June 12, a cumulative total of 3 severe cases of enterovirus infection, including two deaths, were confirmed this year, including two caused by CB 5 virus and one caused by CA 16 virus. Taiwan CDC will continue to monitor the development of the epidemic and the dominant virus strain variation.

Taiwan CDC once again reminds the public that infants and children aged below 5 are at increased risk of developing enterovirus infection with severe complications. 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 pay close attention to the symptoms of the sick child. Once the sick child develops suspected symptoms such as persistent fever, drowsiness, disturbed consciousness, inactivity, flaccid paralysis, myoclonic jerk, continuous vomiting, tachypnea, and tachycardia, please take the child to a large hospital immediately in order to ensure prompt treatment. For more information, please visit the Taiwan CDC’s website at http://www.cdc.gov.tw or call the toll-free Communicable Disease Reporting and C Hotline, 1922, or 0800-001922.