For these days, there has been a rise of hand-foot-mouth kids in the Children Hospital No.1 in Ho Chi Minh City. Dr. Truong Huu Khanh, head of the Infection Department at the hospital said that over 50 inpatients are staying in the department for hand-foot-mouth treatment; of them, 2 - 3 are put on ventilator.
Likewise, the Children Hospital No.2 provided examination to over 2,000 kids and admitted 153 inpatients since early August. Dr. Tran Thi Kim Van, deputy head of the hospital’s Infection Department said 30 hand-foot-mouth kids are hospitalized in the department.
Medical experts said that despite no abrupt leap of hand-foot-mouth patients compared to same period, it is predicted that there will be a surge of infection cases in the next time when students started their new school year.
Normally, two periods which outbreaks of hand-foot-mouth will occur are from March to May and September to December which kids are in schools; accordingly, the disease will widely spread amongst kids.
As per the municipal Center for Preventive Medicine, the city has recorded 2,966 inpatients of hand-foot-mouth by middle of August. The figure is 5 percent lower than the same period last year. However, in two recent weeks the number of inpatients rose to 160 people, an increase of 20 cases compared to weeks before.
Director of the city’s Center for Preventive Medicine Nguyen Tri Dung said that hand-foot-mouth cases are on rise from now to the end of the year predictably; therefore, the center had distributed chemicals to local governments for disinfection in schools.
Expert advised parents not to neglect the symptoms of the disease. Three-year-old toddle Huynh Thi Huyen Tran hailing from the southern province of Binh Phuoc was diagnosed to contract the disease virus and her condition is serious.
Her mother Vo Thi Thuy said that ten days ago, the girl experienced fever and tiny sores in the mouth yet she did not think of the disease. Only when the girl was fatigue and more sore in the mouth that she could not eat three days late, she was taken to the Children Hospital No.2 where doctors diagnosed the little baby to contract HFMD virus in serious condition.
Dr. Khanh noted that parents should not apply ointment or folk drug on kids’ body and parents must bath kids regularly to curb infection.
Doctors warned there is no specific treatment besides relief of symptoms and there is no HFMD vaccine currently available. Young children below the age of 5 are most susceptible to it.
Good personal hygiene is the best way to protect yourself and your child from getting HFMD. Things should be done to protect kids including washing hands with soap and water before and after eating and after going to the toilet and before cooking, disinfecting frequently touched surfaces, such as toys and doorknobs.
