Peak enterovirus season has arrived, and the nation cannot lower its guard against this disease, Premier Jiang Yi-huah stated today. He also urged the elimination of potential breeding grounds for mosquitoes to reduce the risk of dengue fever.
This year Coxsackie A viruses have been the nation's main virus strains, and there have been fewer severe enterovirus cases than in 2012 and 2013. However, epidemic conditions in neighboring Southeast Asian countries and mainland China have been rather critical, and Enterovirus 71 strains, which can easily lead to severe complications, have been the chief cause, Jiang stated. Thus, Taiwan must remain vigilant against the disease, he warned.
The premier made these remarks at today's Cabinet meeting after being briefed by the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) on its measures to prevent enterovirus and dengue fever this summer.
Jiang enjoined the MOHW to augment epidemic monitoring and educational publicity on health and sanitation; enhance parents', nannies' and baby sitters' knowledge about enterovirus and preventive measures against it; have liaisons and arrangements with medical service systems at the ready; and ensure care quality in clinical treatments.
In addition, the Ministry of Education (MOE), MOHW and regional governments should closely collaborate, strengthen the supervision and inspection of educational and nursing institutes' implementation of their prevention tasks, and safeguard hygiene and sanitation in public places to reduce the risk posed by enterovirus, he instructed.
A few cases of local strains of dengue fever have also occurred on the island with the arrival of summer, the premier pointed out. As epidemics of this disease are on the rise in neighboring countries and the world at large, Taiwan has also witnessed continued infusions of overseas strains. Moreover, with the arrival of the plum rain season, pools of water are often left on the ground, providing ideal conditions for the proliferation of dengue-fever mosquito vectors. Consequently, the risk of dengue fever epidemics has increased.
The premier instructed the MOHW and the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) to proactively collaborate with regional governments to strengthen preventive mechanisms. Eradicating the conditions in which vectors breed is the fundamental method to root out the disease, and doing so delivers better results with less effort, he advised.
Besides urging the public to proactively clean up the environment, various government ministries and agencies must set the example by demanding their subordinate units keep both indoor and outdoor environs clean, Jiang ordered. "Such actions to prevent dengue fever will help safeguard the health of all citizenry," he said.
The MOHW stated that the ministry will adopt a multi-functional surveillance system to get hold of epidemics and trends in real time, implement educational publicity on health and sanitation, enhance collaborative platforms for medical service systems, and augment cross-ministerial coordination as well as cooperation between central and regional governments to prevent the spread of epidemics.