CDC warns children are at risk from enterovirus

NO IMMUNIZATION: There has not been a large epidemic in Taiwan for many years, so most children or teenagers have never been infected with the EV71 virus, the CDC said

Taiwan Times
Date: Oct 16, 2019
By: Lee I-chia  /  Staff reporter

Four cases of serious complications from enterovirus infections were confirmed last week, including a

two-year-old in northern Taiwan, and a two-year-old, three-year-old and an 11-year-old in central Taiwan, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said yesterday.

Three of the children were infected with enterovirus 71 (EV71) and one with coxsackievirus A4, he said, adding that they had developed either encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) or encephalomyelitis (inflammation of the brain and spinal cord).

The symptoms — fever, vomiting, oral ulcers, leg weakness, involuntary twitching of the muscles and loss of consciousness — occurred between Sept. 12 and Sept. 25, Lin said.

All four were hospitalized and treated in time, Lin said.    [FULL  STORY]