The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday announced the second case of severe enteroviral infection this year and warned parents of preschoolers to pay special attention to their children’s personal hygiene, as enteroviruses are most likely to occur during the summer and fall.
A four-month-old infant with fever, oral and throat ulcers and a skin rash was diagnosed with enteroviral infection last month and later developed drowsiness and myoclonic jerks, which are the symptoms of severe complications, the CDC said.
Tests later showed the infant had been infected by Coxsackievirus A6 (CVA6), the second such infection this year.
The CDC said enteroviral infections have become endemic in Taiwan. While enterovirus 71 (EV71) has receded since an epidemic two years ago, CVA6 is now the major cause of enteroviral infection.
Although the ability of CVA6 to produce illness is not as high as that of EV71 and most of its symptoms are mild, severe complications are still possible, the CDC said.
Philip Yi-chun Lo (羅一鈞), a doctor with the CDC, said the second patient with CVA6 infection had a blood pressure of over 140/90 mm Hg, “which is a manifestation of autonomic nervous system dysregulation.”
“Severe cases of enteroviral infection can lead to myocarditis and encephalitis,” Lo said.
The CDC warned that enteroviruses are highly infectious and easily transmitted among people in dense, interactive crowds.
It urged preschools and parents to maintain a sanitary environment, routinely sterilize objects and toys frequently touched by children and make children aware of the importance of good personal hygiene.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
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