The Department of Health (DOH) yesterday said 11 townships across seven counties had been placed on red alert for enterovirus and that some 10 to 15 children could be expected to die from the illness this year.
Health officials said they were monitoring any developments regarding the virus and reminded parents not to ignore the potential danger.
"If there are three or more cases of the enterovirus in any classroom, students will be told to stay home for at least three weeks," said Tu Hsin-che (涂醒哲), director of the DOH's Bureau of Communicable Disease Control (疾病管制局).
Tu made the comments during a meeting of the Legislative Yuan's Sanitation, Environment, and Social Welfare Committee yesterday, where legislators echoed growing public concern over the news of three confirmed deaths so far this year from enterovirus infection.
Health officials said that enterovirus 71 (EV-71) infections had been found in eight townships in the counties of Chiayi, Changhua, Taoyuan, Taipei and Kaohsiung. Suspected cases were also reported in three other townships in Changhua, Taoyuan, and Taipei counties.
Health officials warned that vigilance must be maintained in areas placed on red alert, especially in the following weeks, and that the best prevention was good personal hygiene, including washing one's hands often and covering the mouth when coughing or sneezing.
In 1998, about 10,000 reported EV-71 infection cases were reported in Taiwan, causing 75 deaths and 400 serious illnesses. Symptoms of EV-71 infection include fever, rashes and ulcers in the mouth, and on the feet and hands. Health officials say there is no known vaccine for the virus, which has previously broken out in Malaysia, Bulgaria, Hungary and Japan.
Since children under five are most vulnerable to the disease, parents have been advised to be cautious of possible outbreaks in kindergartens.
In Kaohsiung County, where two children have died from the deadly virus, more than 30,000 children attending 406 different kindergartens were taught how to wash their hands thoroughly yesterday.
Teachers also suggested parents avoid taking children to public areas, in order to lower the possibility of getting infected.
The director-general of the DOH, Lee Ming-liang (
However, public health specialists in southern Taiwan told the Taipei Times yesterday that the outbreak had highlighted the poor coordination between local and central heath departments.
"When something like this happens, local health officials are always waiting for instructions from experts in Taipei, and this is not the most efficient way to handle the situation," said Chen Meei-shia (
Letting others know the importance of good hygiene in preventing the disease is difficult in southern Taiwan because of a lack of public health resources, Chen said.
"If more advanced public health research centers could be established in the south to train more professionals to provide information and counseling about the virus, the public would be better equipped to prevent these outbreaks," Chen said.
Japan has deployed long-range missiles in a southwestern region near China, the Japanese defense minister said yesterday, at a time when ties with Beijing are at their lowest in recent years. The missiles were installed in Kumamoto in the southern region of Kyushu, as Japan is attempting to shore up its military capacity as China steps up naval activity in the East China Sea. “Standoff defense capabilities enable us to counter the threat of enemy forces attempting to invade our country ... while ensuring the safety of our personnel,” Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi said. “This is an extremely important initiative for
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) today accepted an invitation from Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to lead a delegation to China next month, saying she hopes to promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations and bring stability to the Taiwan Strait. “I am grateful and happy to accept this invitation,” Cheng said in a statement from the KMT chairperson’s office. Cheng said she hopes both sides can work together to promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations, enhance exchange and cooperation, bring stability to the Taiwan Strait and improve people’s livelihoods. At today's news conference, Cheng said any efforts to
MORE POPULAR: Taiwan Pass sales increased by 59 percent during the first quarter compared with the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said The Tourism Administration yesterday said that it has streamlined the Taiwan Pass, with two versions available for purchase beginning today. The tourism agency has made the pass available to international tourists since 2024, allowing them to access the high-speed rail, Taiwan Railway Corp services, four MRT systems and four Taiwan Tourist Shuttles. Previously, five types of Taiwan Pass were available, but some tourists have said that the offerings were too complicated. The agency said only two types of Taiwan Pass would be available, starting from a three-day pass with the high-speed rail and a three-day pass with Taiwan Railway Corp. The former costs NT$2,800
The nation’s fastest supercomputer, Nano 4 (晶創26), is scheduled to be launched in the third quarter, and would be used to train large language models in finance and national defense sectors, the National Center for High-Performance Computing (NCHC) said. The supercomputer, which would operate at about 86.05 petaflops, is being tested at a new cloud computing center in the Southern Taiwan Science Park in Tainan. The exterior of the server cabinet features chip circuitry patterns overlaid with a map of Taiwan, highlighting the nation’s central position in the semiconductor industry. The center also houses Taiwania 2, Taiwania 3, Forerunner 1 and
RSS