Health officials suggested yesterday that people use diluted household bleaching agents to keep their homes clean and combat the threat of enterovirus, instead of ethanol-based products that do not kill the potentially lethal infant virus.
Officials at the Taoyuan County Public Health Bureau suggested using bleach to keep children safe because of statistics showing that 70 percent of patients affected by the flu-like disease this year were infants and toddlers.
The officials believe that the victims did not catch the disease in kindergartens because they were all pre-schoolers, and therefore could have been infected after coming into contact with their parents, other adult relatives or older children at home.
The Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) statistics on enterovirus outbreaks this year showed that there were 136 confirmed serious cases reported as of June 3, of which four have resulted in death.
The tallies show that 133 of the patients contracted Enterovirus Type 71 (EV 71) — a fatal strain that has spread to the nation from other Southeast Asian countries.
In comparison, there were 10 cases recorded in the same period last year, with one death, the CDC said.
Major enterovirus outbreaks occur roughly once every 10 years and the CDC has warned that this year could be part of that cycle.
Since ethyl alcohol cannot kill the virus, officials in the northern county suggested adding 20 milliliters of household bleach containing chlorine to 5 liters of tap water as a disinfectant when housecleaning.
The handy disinfectant can be applied to objects that young children often touch, such as door handles, tables, chairs, toys and books, to decrease their risk of contracting the virus.
Enterovirus is a common cause of diseases such as meningitis and miocarditis. The flu-like illness is usually contracted through direct contact with contaminated sources.
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