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2-year-old boy with COVID-19 dies of acute encephalitis
focustaiwan.tw
Taipei, May 15 (CNA) A 2-year-old boy from Keelung diagnosed with COVID-19 died on Saturday of a COVID-19 infection complicated by acute encephalitis and multiple organ failure, health authorities said Sunday.
The boy surnamed Lin (林), who just turned two last month, died on Saturday morning at Taipei Veterans General Hospital after having tested positive for COVID-19 with a rapid antigen test at home on Thursday and then with a PCR test at Keelung Hospital on Friday.
He had been transferred from Keelung Friday night due to the severity of his illness, which required being treated in a medical center with a pediatric intensive care unit (ICU) bed.
The boy's case and death have not been recorded by the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yet, as it is awaiting the official report from Keelung authorities, according to the CECC at its press conference Sunday.
The boy was first brought to Keelung Hospital Thursday where he received a PCR test after he tested positive with a rapid antigen test because his nanny was diagnosed with COVID-19, according to the Keelung City Health Bureau.
The child was confirmed to have COVID-19 after his PCR test result came back positive Friday with a cycle threshold (CT) value of 18, indicating a high viral load.
He was rushed to Keelung Hospital again for emergency treatment later Friday when he suffered convulsions and had a high fever of 42.4 degrees Celsius, bureau head Wu Tse-cheng (吳澤誠) told media reporters Sunday.
In addition to COVID-19, the boy was diagnosed with suspected acute viral encephalitis by pediatric infectious disease doctors at the hospital, according to Wu.
He was instantly given oxygen and infusion therapy and treated with antipyretics, antibiotics, and anticonvulsants after the diagnosis, according to the hospital.
However, as the hospital has no pediatric intensive care unit, it recommended that the boy be transferred to a medical center with pediatric ICU rooms.
The local health bureau tried to arrange a pediatric ICU bed for the child and contacted several medical centers in Taipei that have been assigned responsibility for treating children with severe illnesses in accordance with the CECC guidelines.
Eventually, the child was transferred to Taipei Veterans General Hospital late Friday night. However, during the process he again experienced convulsions and was treated with medication, according to the local health department.
The young patient was admitted into the Taipei hospital at 2 a.m. on Saturday but was later declared dead around 8 a.m. after failed resuscitation efforts, according to the CECC.
Meanwhile, Wu said that although Lin's nanny was confirmed to have COVID-19 and his parents did not contract the virus, it still needs to be confirmed whether he was infected by his nanny.
The immediate cause of his death should be acute encephalitis with multiple organ failure, Wu said, adding that the boy also developed sepsis and liver dysfunction and that whether COVID-19 was the primary underlying cause of his death is still to be confirmed by the CECC.
The 2-year-old child has become the youngest person with COVID-19 to die in Keelung, Wu noted.
According to the death certificate, the child died of an COVID-19 infection that was aggravated by acute encephalitis and multiple organ failure, Lo Yi-chun (羅一鈞), deputy head of the CECC's medical response division, said at Sunday's CECC news briefing.
Lo emphasized that the hospitals did not delay the emergency treatment of the child, saying that at present, a pediatric critical care network is in operation and there are six dedicated vacant ICU beds for children with COVID-19 in hospitals in northern Taiwan.
(By Wang Chao-yu, Chen Chieh-ling and Evelyn Kao)
focustaiwan.tw
The boy surnamed Lin (林), who just turned two last month, died on Saturday morning at Taipei Veterans General Hospital after having tested positive for COVID-19 with a rapid antigen test at home on Thursday and then with a PCR test at Keelung Hospital on Friday.
He had been transferred from Keelung Friday night due to the severity of his illness, which required being treated in a medical center with a pediatric intensive care unit (ICU) bed.
The boy's case and death have not been recorded by the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yet, as it is awaiting the official report from Keelung authorities, according to the CECC at its press conference Sunday.
The boy was first brought to Keelung Hospital Thursday where he received a PCR test after he tested positive with a rapid antigen test because his nanny was diagnosed with COVID-19, according to the Keelung City Health Bureau.
The child was confirmed to have COVID-19 after his PCR test result came back positive Friday with a cycle threshold (CT) value of 18, indicating a high viral load.
He was rushed to Keelung Hospital again for emergency treatment later Friday when he suffered convulsions and had a high fever of 42.4 degrees Celsius, bureau head Wu Tse-cheng (吳澤誠) told media reporters Sunday.
In addition to COVID-19, the boy was diagnosed with suspected acute viral encephalitis by pediatric infectious disease doctors at the hospital, according to Wu.
He was instantly given oxygen and infusion therapy and treated with antipyretics, antibiotics, and anticonvulsants after the diagnosis, according to the hospital.
However, as the hospital has no pediatric intensive care unit, it recommended that the boy be transferred to a medical center with pediatric ICU rooms.
The local health bureau tried to arrange a pediatric ICU bed for the child and contacted several medical centers in Taipei that have been assigned responsibility for treating children with severe illnesses in accordance with the CECC guidelines.
Eventually, the child was transferred to Taipei Veterans General Hospital late Friday night. However, during the process he again experienced convulsions and was treated with medication, according to the local health department.
The young patient was admitted into the Taipei hospital at 2 a.m. on Saturday but was later declared dead around 8 a.m. after failed resuscitation efforts, according to the CECC.
Meanwhile, Wu said that although Lin's nanny was confirmed to have COVID-19 and his parents did not contract the virus, it still needs to be confirmed whether he was infected by his nanny.
The immediate cause of his death should be acute encephalitis with multiple organ failure, Wu said, adding that the boy also developed sepsis and liver dysfunction and that whether COVID-19 was the primary underlying cause of his death is still to be confirmed by the CECC.
The 2-year-old child has become the youngest person with COVID-19 to die in Keelung, Wu noted.
According to the death certificate, the child died of an COVID-19 infection that was aggravated by acute encephalitis and multiple organ failure, Lo Yi-chun (羅一鈞), deputy head of the CECC's medical response division, said at Sunday's CECC news briefing.
Lo emphasized that the hospitals did not delay the emergency treatment of the child, saying that at present, a pediatric critical care network is in operation and there are six dedicated vacant ICU beds for children with COVID-19 in hospitals in northern Taiwan.
(By Wang Chao-yu, Chen Chieh-ling and Evelyn Kao)
