China's central Hunan province reports at least 23 deaths from hand-foot-mouth disease
China, Apr 23, 2010
Twenty-three children in central China's Hunan province have died of hand-foot-mouth disease (HFMD) since January, Xinhua news agency reported a spokesperson with the provincial health bureau as saying. In March alone, the province had reported 10 deaths from the disease and another 2,844 cases of HFMD. According to Xinhua, the spokesperson reported no deaths from the disease in the same period last year. The spokesperson said that lack of awareness of early symptoms of HFMD was one of the reasons for the outbreak. According to Xinhua, Li Shuangjie, an infectious diseases doctor from Hunan Children's Hospital, said that outbreaks of the disease normally begins in April, but this year started earlier, in January. li said his hospital has been receiving 300 to 400 suspected HFMD patients every day this month. China's Ministry of Health (MOH) says that a total of 94 children had died of HFMD this year in the country as of April 11 and more than 192,300 cases were reported in the country from the beginning of the year to April 11, of which 2,119 were serious cases. According to Xinhua, the total number of cases is up some 40 percent from the same period last year. According to the China Daily, almost 80 percent of current infections were detected in southern or eastern regions, including Guangdong, Zhejiang and Anhui provinces, according to MOH spokesman Deng Haihua. Deng said that deaths were reported in 14 provinces and regions. HFMD is a common, highly contagious illness that mainly targets children younger than the age of 10. The illness usually begins with a slight fever, followed by blisters and ulcers in the mouth and rashes on the hands and feet. Because the disease is spread through contact with saliva or fecal matter, good personal hygiene, including washing hands often, is strongly recommended to protect oneself from the disease.
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