The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday announced the first case of Echo-3 enterovirus infection with severe complications recorded in Taiwan.
CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Liu Ting-ping (劉定萍) said the case was a newborn baby girl, born on Dec. 4 last year, who was found suffering from cyanosis, a poor appetite, acute respiratory distress and cardiogenic shock due to a viral infection, and was transferred to an intensive care unit for treatment.
Previously recorded Echo-3 enterovirus infections were all mild cases, Liu said.
CDC physician Philip Yi-chun Lo (羅一鈞) said the girl was the sixth recorded case of enterovirus infection with severe complications last year — the previous five cases included two cases of Coxsackievirus A16 infection and three cases of Coxsackievirus B5 infection.
Among the six cases, three involved babies younger than three, Lo said, adding that the baby girl with Echo-3 enterovirus infection might have been infected by her mother during birth.
However, the girl’s mother, family members and healthcare personnel had no enterovirus symptoms.
The baby’s condition was stabilized and she was transferred to a general ward on Dec. 24, Lo said.
Liu said that, although the epidemic period of enterovirus is over, there are still many recorded cases of enterovirus infection, with a total of 9,990 cases reported at emergency rooms nationwide last week — more than the 9,053 cases recorded in the previous week — so people should continue to take preventive measures against it.
The CDC urged pregnant women to pay attention to their health and to consult a doctor as soon as possible if they suffer from fever, upper respiratory tract infection, diarrhea or pleurodynia in the two-week period before they are due to give birth.
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