The authorities in Taiwan say that twenty-eight young children have died and more than two-hundred thousand others have been ill after being infected by a virus in the past three months.

Health officials say the virus known as Enterovirus 71 Seventy-One brings on symptoms similar to those of flu.

About one-hundred and twenty infants are currently in hospital receiving treatment.

A BBC correspondent in Taiwan says that although the vast majority of those infected suffer only from minor symptons, the virus outbreak has caused panic among many parents with small children.