While rosy cheeks can be a sign of health in young children, that was certainly not the case for a six-year-old boy whose pink cheeks were recently identified as the symptom of a virus.
According to Reshining Clinic deputy superintendent Pan Chun-shen (潘俊伸), the boy’s parents thought the red blotches on his cheeks were caused by warm weather, until they started spreading to his torso and limbs a few days later.
“The rashes were slightly itchy and were accompanied by fever and a runny nose, which led the clinic to diagnose the boy with parvovirus B19 infection, a common illness in children that is sometimes referred to as slapped-cheek syndrome or the fifth disease,” Pan said.
Photo provided by Pan Chun-shen
Parvovirus B19 is transmitted primarily by respiratory secretions, but can also spread through blood or blood products. Red rashes on the face or other parts of the body generally appear four to 20 days after infection.
Pan said the illness is most prevalent among children aged between five and 15 and tends to occur in spring and early summer.
“In the early stages symptoms are similar to those of a respiratory infection, such as a runny or blocked nose; it often cannot be identified until the rash becomes visible,” Pan said, adding that the disease is no longer contagious after the rash appears.
Pan said that while there is no specific medicine to treat the condition, parents can purchase antipyretics or drugs designed to assuage coughing and clear blocked noses to ease symptoms.
Taiwan has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
STAY IN YOUR LANE: As the US and Israel attack Iran, the ministry has warned China not to overstep by including Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation orders The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rebuked a statement by China’s embassy in Israel that it would evacuate Taiwanese holders of Chinese travel documents from Israel amid the latter’s escalating conflict with Iran. Tensions have risen across the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran beginning Saturday. China subsequently issued an evacuation notice for its citizens. In a news release, the Chinese embassy in Israel said holders of “Taiwan compatriot permits (台胞證)” issued to Taiwanese nationals by Chinese authorities for travel to China — could register for evacuation to Egypt. In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said Taiwan
Taiwan is awaiting official notification from the US regarding the status of the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) after the US Supreme Court ruled US President Donald Trump's global tariffs unconstitutional. Speaking to reporters before a legislative hearing today, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said that Taiwan's negotiation team remains focused on ensuring that the bilateral trade deal remains intact despite the legal challenge to Trump's tariff policy. "The US has pledged to notify its trade partners once the subsequent administrative and legal processes are finalized, and that certainly includes Taiwan," Cho said when asked about opposition parties’ doubts that the ART was
If China chose to invade Taiwan tomorrow, it would only have to sever three undersea fiber-optic cable clusters to cause a data blackout, Jason Hsu (許毓仁), a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator, told a US security panel yesterday. In a Taiwan contingency, cable disruption would be one of the earliest preinvasion actions and the signal that escalation had begun, he said, adding that Taiwan’s current cable repair capabilities are insufficient. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) yesterday held a hearing on US-China Competition Under the Sea, with Hsu speaking on
RSS