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.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators
RSS