With
1,043 new cases of hand-foot-and-mouth disease recorded in the past week, the
country’s total number of patients in the first two months of the year has
amounted to more than 7,700, 9 of whom have died, the Health Ministry reported.
Last week's figure was the highest among the
first 7 weeks of the year, the ministry reported. Previously, the number of new
cases each week only ranged between 900-1,000.
According to the ministry’s statistics, high
numbers of HFMD patients in the past 3 weeks have been recorded in 11 provinces
and cities, including Hai Phong, Dong Thap, Hau Giang, Khanh Hoa, Kien Giang,
CanTho, Ca Mau, Dak Lak, An Giang, and Vinh Long.
Of these provinces, the first three have the
highest percentage of patients per 100,000 inhabitants of the country, the
ministry said.
The statistics in 2011 showed that 76 percent
of patients contracted the disease at home, 23 percent in schools and
kindergartens and the rest in other cases.
As the epidemic has spread to 60 of the
country’s 63 provinces and cities and has become more complicated than before,
the ministry said it was reviewing the manual for HMFD diagnosis and treatment
and would set up 5 training centers at the Central Tropical Disease Hospital,
the Central Pediatrics Hospital, the Pediatrics Hospitals I and II in Ho Chi
Minh City, and the HCMC Tropical Disease Hospital.
Training is aimed at improving the efficiency
of diagnosis, treatment and patient care to prevent the spread of the disease
and the risk of death, the ministry said.
The ministry requested that local health
authorities re-check their medical equipment, medicines and other facilities
that serve the fight against the disease to ensure they are always available
and in good condition.
This year’s epidemic may be more severe than
last year’s, since it has broken out sooner - in January-February instead of
April or May as in 2011, Tran Thanh Duong, deputy head of the Health Ministry’s
Preventive Health Department, warned.
Epidemic hygiene a must
Hand, foot and mouth disease is a common viral
illness among infants and children that causes a fever and blister-like
eruptions around the mouth and/or a skin rash.
There are no vaccines or even specific drugs
for this highly contagious disease, but certain precautions can help reduce its
spread, the ministry said.
People should wash their children’s hands
frequently and thoroughly, especially after they use the toilet and before they
eat. They should also keep their children’s toys clean and restrict them from
putting any toys or other tools into their mouth.
When patients contract the disease, their
secreted fluids, including saliva and nasal discharge, are one of the sources
from which the disease spreads, said Dr Ngo Thi Kim Yen, deputy director of the
health department of Da Nang City, where 152 HFMD cases have been recorded so
far this year, 7 times higher than the previous year.
Children should be hospitalized for
examination and treatment after developing symptoms such as a high fever; mouth
ulcers; red rash, without itching but sometimes with blistering, on the palms,
soles and sometimes the buttocks; and painful, red, blister-like lesions on the
tongue, gums and inside of the cheeks, medical experts said.
TUOI TRE
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