People should look out for eight signs of acute encephalitis in children and seek emergency medical treatment if they occur, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday.
The symptoms are a body temperature of at least 41°C, impaired consciousness, excessive sleepiness, a persistent headache, vomiting, involuntary muscle twitching (myoclonic jerks), convulsions and an unsteady gait, said Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞), deputy head of the CECC’s medical response division.
The symptoms were spelled out in the “Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Treatment of Acute COVID-19 Encephalitis in Children,” drawn up by members of the Taiwan Pediatric Association and other medical experts during a conference on Saturday, Lo said.
The number of children with COVID-19 developing acute encephalitis has been increasing amid Taiwan’s latest COVID-19 outbreak, Lo said.
People can develop a high fever due to an infection, but a fever of at least 41°C could signal a central nervous system disorder, he said, adding that people with impaired consciousness might even hallucinate.
“If parents notice the symptoms in their child, they should immediately seek medical attention, either by calling the 119 emergency hotline or taking their child to a hospital using private transport,” he said.
During enterovirus outbreaks, especially those involving the enterovirus 71 strain, cases of encephalitis in children have also increased, so people should watch for symptoms of other types of viral infections as well, he said.
Conference participants also discussed treatment methods for children with acute neurological emergencies, including increased intracranial pressure, COVID-19 infection and related immunotherapy, and epileptic seizure management, he said.
Lo said that 12 children have been diagnosed with severe COVID-19 so far this year, including five who developed encephalitis.
Four of the children with encephalitis are under the age of four, while the other case is a 10-year-old boy, reported yesterday, he said.
The boy does not have chronic health issues. He sought treatment at a clinic for a fever, dizziness and vomiting on May 13, and returned home to rest, he said.
He experienced impaired consciousness and muscle twitching the next day, and tested positive with a rapid COVID-19 test, Lo said.
He was taken to an emergency room and was found to have a fever of 40.1°C, mild pneumonia, brain edema, an irregular heartbeat, a low blood oxygen level and multiple organ dysfunction, Lo said.
The child was intubated and admitted to an intensive care unit for treatment, he added.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
A fugitive in a suspected cosmetic surgery fraud case today returned to Taiwan from Canada, after being wanted for six years. Internet celebrity Su Chen-tuan (蘇陳端), known as Lady Nai Nai (貴婦奈奈), and her former boyfriend, plastic surgeon Paul Huang (黃博健), allegedly defrauded clients and friends of about NT$1 billion (US$30.66 million). Su was put on a wanted list in 2019 when she lived in Toronto, Canada, after failing to respond to subpoenas and arrest warrants from the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. Su arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 5am today on an EVA Air flight accompanied by a
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators
The Keelung District Prosecutors’ Office today requested that a court detain three individuals, including Keelung Department of Civil Affairs Director Chang Yuan-hsiang (張淵翔), in connection with an investigation into forged signatures used in recall campaigns. Chang is suspected of accessing a household registration system to assist with recall campaigns targeting Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) city councilors Cheng Wen-ting (鄭文婷) and Jiho Chang (張之豪), prosecutors said. Prosecutors yesterday directed investigators to search six locations, including the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Keelung office and the residences of several recall campaign leaders. The recall campaign leaders, including Chi Wen-chuan (紀文荃), Yu Cheng-i (游正義) and Hsu Shao-yeh
RSS