Noting that the frequency of enterovirus infections in Taiwan has already surpassed the alert level, and with the peak epidemic season still roughly a month away, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) warned Tuesday the public of the looming danger.

Deputy CDC Director-General Lin Ting quoted public health insurance data as indicating that 6.6 people out of every 1,000 patients seeking emergency medical attention last week were suffering from enterovirus.

The frequency was above the alert level, set at 5.24 people out of every 1,000 patients, the CDC said.

Most of the reported cases were mild bouts of the virus, Ting said, but he warned that more severe cases could emerge among children under the age of 5 as the number of mild cases grows and the infection spreads to them.

Lin said that as of Monday, seven severe enterovirus cases had been confirmed around Taiwan this year, including a 2-year-old girl who had been in critical condition, but who has gradually recovered since.

Enteroviruses are the most common cause of aseptic meningitis and can be deadly, especially in infants. Enterovirus type 71 (EV71) is the deadliest type of the virus and one of the major causes of hand-foot-and-mouth syndrome.

It is also sometimes associated with severe central nervous system diseases, according to the CDC.

In 1998, Taiwan experienced a serious outbreak of EV71, with 405 severe infections recorded, 78 of which were fatal. Another EV71 outbreak in 2005 resulted in 145 severe infections, 15 of which were fatal.

Lin said that although as many as 90 percent of adults who regularly take care of infants or young children in Taiwan know they must wash their hands before feeding or touching a child, less than 70 percent of them maintain proper sanitary habits.

If a child begins to experience enterovirus symptoms, such as high fever, vomiting and cramps, he or she should be taken to a hospital immediately, instead of to a neighborhood clinic for treatment, he said.

In another finding of a recent survey conducted by the CDC, 32 percent of adults have no idea that seizures and acute flaccid paralysis were enterovirus-related symptoms, Lin said.

China Daily/CNA

(HK Edition 05/05/2010 page4)