7-day-old boy in northern Taiwan dies from enterovirus complications

Taipei, Sept. 16 (CNA) A 7-day-old boy in northern Taiwan has died from complications due to enterovirus complications, the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said Tuesday.

The child had no congenital medical history and was recently admitted to a postpartum care center after being born in late August, CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said at a routine news briefing in Taipei.

However, at 7 days old, he was taken to an emergency room with low body temperature and pale skin. Doctors later found signs of jaundice and abnormal blood test results, Lin said.

The infant was immediately transferred to an intensive care unit, but his condition quickly worsened, and he died the next day from an enterovirus infection, with postmortem testing confirming Echovirus 11, Lin said.

Lin said an epidemiological investigation found no symptoms among the staff in the baby's nursery or the postpartum care center where he stayed. However, the infant's mother had experienced fever and other symptoms before delivery, raising the possibility that the infection was acquired around the time of birth.

From Sept. 7 to 13, a total of 8,313 enterovirus visits were recorded, a 6.8 percent increase from the previous week's 7,786 cases, CDC spokesperson Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑慧) said, attributing the surge to schools reopening after the summer break in Taiwan.

Tseng anticipated that the epidemic would enter its peak period by early October.

Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳), deputy director of the CDC's Epidemic Intelligence Center, said there were 16 confirmed severe enterovirus cases so far this year, including eight deaths, the highest number for the same period in the past six years.

Among the 16 cases, 13 involved newborns who were all infected with Echovirus 11, Lee said, urging parents to watch for early warning signs of severe enterovirus infection in their children.

According to Lee, laboratory monitoring over the past four weeks showed that Coxsackievirus A16 remains the predominant strain circulating in the community, followed by Echovirus 11 and Coxsackievirus A6.