The peak season for enteroviruses occurs between April and June every year. According to statistics from the Taipei Department of Health, emergency room visits for such virus infections have seen a significant spike over the past four weeks. The average number of enterovirus-related emergency visits, at 1.29 percent, is higher than the average of 1.01 percent for the same period over the past three years, setting a three-year high. Four undiagnosed and no confirmed cases of severe complications related to enterovirus have been reported.
Huang Chi-ching, head of the department’s Division for Disease Control and Prevention, says that although there have not been any cases of severe complications associated with enteroviruses in Taipei this year, there have been 27 reported nationwide, three of which were confirmed with diagnoses in central Taiwan. The first confirmed case was a nine-year-old girl, while the second and third cases were both boys two years and five months old. In the third case, the boy was taken to the hospital after running a fever and showing signs of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD). Two days later he began experiencing full-body convulsions. All of these symptoms are similar to those of meningitis. Apparently, before he started showing signs of illness, however, his family had also exhibited enterovirus symptoms, meaning that they could have been the source of the child’s infection, Huang says.
Yang Wen-li, a pediatrician and president of Taipei City Hospital’s Yangming Branch, says that enterovirus is usually contracted through droplet infection or the oral-fecal route. Apart from being spread by airborne transmissions, the virus can also be transmitted by dirty hands when eating or when coming into contact with infected excretions at public swimming pools. Parents should be scrupulous about their hygiene because children can also catch enterovirus from infected adults.
Photo: Tsai Shu-yuan, Liberty Times
照片:自由時報記者蔡淑媛
Huang says that if you have a child five years of age or younger at home or a child who has enterovirus, everyone in the household should wash their hands regularly and wear surgical masks. Hugging and sharing toys or eating utensils should also be kept at a minimum to reduce risk of infection, Huang says, adding that your home environment should also be sanitized using a dilution of chloride bleach. The ratio of bleach to water should be 1-100. This ratio can be increased to 2-100 when cleaning up vomit. The diluted bleach needs to be used within 24 hours of mixing it, Huang says.
Huang also says to remain calm in the case that your child starts showing symptoms of enterovirus, including fever, HFMD or herpangina. A child with enterovirus typically recovers within seven to 10 days. However, if you notice that they are drowsy all the time, keep convulsing, vomiting, and have shortness of breath or heart palpitations, which are signs of serious illness, the child should be taken to see a doctor immediately, Huang says.
(Liberty Times, Translated by Kyle Jeffcoat)
每年四至六月是腸病毒流行高峰期,據台北市衛生局統計,近四週腸病毒急診就診率明顯遞增,平均值千分之十二點九一,高於前三年同期平均值十點一,創下近三年新高,共通報四例併發重症,但確診零例。
衛生局疾病管制處副處長黃繼慶表示,雖今年台北市尚無腸病毒併發重症確診個案,但全國已通報二十七例,確診三例,均發生於中部,首例為九歲女童,二、三例皆為兩歲五個月男童,以第三例來說,因發燒、手足口症至診所就醫,兩天後就出現全身抽搐,疑似腦膜炎病徵,據悉發病前,家人曾有腸病毒症狀,可能為感染來源。
台北市立聯合醫院陽明院區院長暨小兒專科醫師楊文理指出,腸病毒主要經由飛沫、口糞傳染,除了呼吸道傳播途徑外,髒手拿東西吃,或是在公共游泳池接觸帶有腸病毒的排泄物,均可能致病,有時孩童受到感染,也可能是來自於成人,因此家長衛生習慣不可馬虎。
黃繼慶強調,家中如有五歲以下幼童,或其中一名孩子感染腸病毒,必須加強勤洗手、戴口罩習慣,並適度禁止擁抱、共玩玩具、共用餐具等行為,降低交叉感染機會。居家環境可使用含氯漂白水稀釋消毒,漂白水與水的比例為一比一百,擦拭嘔吐物可加重漂白水劑量,提高為二比一百,且稀釋漂白水須於二十四小時內用畢。
黃繼慶提醒,萬一家中孩童感染輕症腸病毒,出現發燒、手足口症、泡疹性咽峽炎等症狀,不必太緊張,通常可於七至十天內痊癒;但若察覺有嗜睡、抽搐、持續嘔吐、呼吸急促或心跳加快等情形,就是重症前兆病徵,必須儘速就醫。
(自由時報記者林惠琴)
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