Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=914019&lang=eng_news
Boy dies of enterovirus in southern Taiwan
Central News Agency
2009-04-07 08:52 PM
Taipei, April 7 (CNA) A two-year-old boy in southern Taiwan's Yunlin County has died after being infected with enterovirus, the first victim of the disease this year, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director Shih Wen-yi said Tuesday.
Citing an April 5 notice to the CDC from National Cheng Kung University Hospital in Tainan City where the boy was treated, Shih said the patient fell sick March 31, with symptoms of fever, vomiting and hand-foot-and-mouth syndrome.
He received initial treatment at a hospital in Singang rural township in Chiayi County before being referred to a clinic in Chiayi City April 2 after he continued to suffer cramps and persistent fever, and was finally admitted to the National Cheng Kung University Hospital in Tainan City April 4, by which time he was suffering drowsiness, increased heart rate and cold extremities.
Suspecting that he was suffering from enterovirus infection, the hospital alerted the CDC and admitted him to the intensive care unit, where the boy died April 5.
CDC experts later determined that the boy was a victim of enterovirus type 71(EV71).
Shih noted that 11 severe enterovirus infections have been recorded in Taiwan this year, most of them in southern parts of the country.
A Yunlin County health official said the victim's five-year old brother, who attended a kindergarten in Chiayi, had developed hand-foot-and-mouth syndrome March 28 but recovered after treatment.
The local health authorities disinfected the kindergarten and checked the children's temperatures every day. However, none of the other children had developed symptoms.
Enteroviruses are the most common cause of aseptic meningitis and can be deadly, especially in young children. EV71 -- the deadliest type of enterovirus -- is one of the major causative agents of hand-foot-and-mouth syndrome and is sometimes associated with severe central nervous system diseases.
In 1998, Taiwan experienced a serious outbreak of EV71, with 405 severe infections recorded, 78 of which were fatal. Another EV71 outbreak in 2005 resulted in 145 severe infections, 15 of which were fatal.
(By Maubo Chang)
Boy dies of enterovirus in southern Taiwan
Central News Agency
2009-04-07 08:52 PM
Taipei, April 7 (CNA) A two-year-old boy in southern Taiwan's Yunlin County has died after being infected with enterovirus, the first victim of the disease this year, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director Shih Wen-yi said Tuesday.
Citing an April 5 notice to the CDC from National Cheng Kung University Hospital in Tainan City where the boy was treated, Shih said the patient fell sick March 31, with symptoms of fever, vomiting and hand-foot-and-mouth syndrome.
He received initial treatment at a hospital in Singang rural township in Chiayi County before being referred to a clinic in Chiayi City April 2 after he continued to suffer cramps and persistent fever, and was finally admitted to the National Cheng Kung University Hospital in Tainan City April 4, by which time he was suffering drowsiness, increased heart rate and cold extremities.
Suspecting that he was suffering from enterovirus infection, the hospital alerted the CDC and admitted him to the intensive care unit, where the boy died April 5.
CDC experts later determined that the boy was a victim of enterovirus type 71(EV71).
Shih noted that 11 severe enterovirus infections have been recorded in Taiwan this year, most of them in southern parts of the country.
A Yunlin County health official said the victim's five-year old brother, who attended a kindergarten in Chiayi, had developed hand-foot-and-mouth syndrome March 28 but recovered after treatment.
The local health authorities disinfected the kindergarten and checked the children's temperatures every day. However, none of the other children had developed symptoms.
Enteroviruses are the most common cause of aseptic meningitis and can be deadly, especially in young children. EV71 -- the deadliest type of enterovirus -- is one of the major causative agents of hand-foot-and-mouth syndrome and is sometimes associated with severe central nervous system diseases.
In 1998, Taiwan experienced a serious outbreak of EV71, with 405 severe infections recorded, 78 of which were fatal. Another EV71 outbreak in 2005 resulted in 145 severe infections, 15 of which were fatal.
(By Maubo Chang)