Wed, Mar 04, 2026 page2

• CDC reports year’s first severe enterovirus cases

  FLU SURGE: Hospital visits for flu symptoms jumped 59.4 percent last week from the previous week, but the CDC said it expects flu activity to fall in the next two weeks

  • By Lee I-chia / Staff reporter
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  The year’s first two cases of enterovirus infection with severe complications were reported last week, including a child younger than five who is being treated in an intensive care unit (ICU), the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday.

  One of the cases is a junior-high school student in northern Taiwan with a history of asthma who sought treatment at a clinic shortly after experiencing a fever and coughing early last month, CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said.

  However, after the next day developing blisters on his palms and soles of his feet, and sudden weakness and numbness on one side of his body, he was admitted to a hospital emergency room, where they observed enterovirus infection symptoms — hand, foot and mouth disease, herpangina and weakness in the limbs, Lin said.

  

  Centers for Disease Control Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei speaks to reporters in Taipei yesterday.

  Photo: Hou Chia-yu, Taipei Times

  The boy was admitted to an ICU and was discharged from the hospital after a week, he said, adding that the enterovirus strain the teen contracted had not yet been confirmed.

  The other case is a boy younger than five in central Taiwan, who has a developmental delay, he said, adding that the boy began experiencing fever and vomiting from Feb. 13, but was diagnosed with gastroenteritis.

  He was admitted to an emergency room two days later for lack of activity, stomach pain and bloating, Lin said.

  At the emergency room, the boy had a rapid heartbeat, difficulty breathing and altered consciousness, he said, adding that as a computed tomography scan showed brain swelling, while a magnetic resonance imaging scan showed brain and spinal cord inflammation, the child was immediately admitted to an ICU for treatment.

  The boy was confirmed to have enterovirus 68 and was being treated in the ICU, he said.

  Enterovirus A71 is more severe because it has a higher risk of causing severe neurological complications, but enterovirus 68 can also cause severe complications, Lin said.

  However, as enterovirus 68 infection often begins with mild cold-like respiratory symptoms, it might easily be overlooked, he said.

  Therefore, if children develop signs of severe complications — including sleepiness, loss of consciousness, loss of vitality, limb weakness, myoclonic jerks, persistent vomiting, shortness of breath or rapid heartbeat — they should immediately be taken to hospital for examination and treatment, he added.

  Enterovirus activity remains relatively low, with 2,743 hospital visits for enterovirus infection reported last week, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said.

  Surveillance data showed that coxsackievirus A6 was the most commonly detected enterovirus strain in the past four weeks, followed by coxsackievirus A4 and coxsackievirus A16, he said.

  Meanwhile, the influenza B virus has replaced influenza A(H3N2) as the dominant flu strain in Taiwan, with 94,085 hospital visits for flu-like illness reported last week, a 59.4 percent increase from the previous week, when many clinics were closed during the long holiday, the CDC said.

  While the dominant strain has switched, people should not be too worried, as the centers estimates that flu activity might begin to fall in about two weeks, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Min-cheng (林明誠) said.

  However, with fluctuating temperatures in early spring, students returning to school and crowds at lantern festival events, the CDC still urges people to frequently wash their hands and practice good cough etiquette, Lin Min-cheng said.

  People should also stay home and rest if they experience respiratory symptoms, and seek medical attention immediately if they develop signs of severe illness, including difficulty breathing, chest pain and changes in consciousness, he added.
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