Taiwan reported Tuesday the country's eighth case of severe enterovirus infection this year, the same day it announced that a locally developed vaccine against enterovirus type 71 (EV71) -- the deadliest type of the virus -- is expected to enter the human trial stage this year. Lin Ting, deputy director-general of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), briefed the press on the latest situation at a news conference earlier in the day, saying that the latest EV71 case involved an 11-month-old boy living in northern Taiwan. The infant was hospitalized a few days previously after showing symptoms including fever and cramps that suggested infection with the virus, Lin said, noting that the boy was in stable condition after treatment. Lin pointed out that Taiwan has entered the enterovirus season, citing statistics showing that 8.85 out of every 1,000 patients seeking emergency medical attention this year displayed symptoms suggesting various types of enterovirus infection. Children are particularly vulnerable, with severe complications occurring easily among children under 3 years old who get infected by an older child in the family. This is because younger children have weaker immune systems and are exposed to higher levels of the virus than the initial victims, according to the CDC. In 1998, Taiwan experienced a serious outbreak of EV71, with 405 severe infections recorded, 78 of which were fatal. Another EV71 outbreak in 2005 resulted in 145 severe infections, 15 of which ending in death. These outbreaks prompted the state-run National Health Research Institutes (NHRI) to develop a vaccine for EV71. Meanwhile that day, Minister of Health Yaung Chih-liang, who was in the Swiss city of Geneva to attend the annual World Health Assembly, told local reporters by telephone that human trials of the locally developed vaccine will begin in September. NHRI Secretary-General Chiang Hung-che said the NHRI will later transfer the technique for producing the new vaccine to the civil sector, adding that the government has set a goal for the vaccine to be marketed within three years of the technique transfer. Lin said the CDC will encourage pharmaceutical companies to put the vaccine on the market as soon as possible by promising them that the government will procure it. 