A Vietnamese 5-year-old died of suspected hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) on Wednesday evening in Ho Chi Minh City, according to the management board of Children’s Hospital 1 based in the city.

The hospital took a sample of the child patient and sent it to the Ho Chi Minh City Hospital for Tropical Diseases for a PCR test to confirm whether the death was associated with HFMD.

The test results will be available in the next 1-2 days.

A Children’s Hospital 1 representative said that the number of children with severe HFMD accounted for a relatively high proportion just at the start of the hand-foot-and-mouth season.

HFMD cases are forecast to rise sharply this year, with more severe infections, the representative added.

Statistics from the municipal Department of Health showed that the southern city reported 157 HFMD cases from May 22 to 28, up over 47 percent versus the average figure of the last four weeks at 107 cases.

This sent the total number of HFMD cases citywide in the year to May 28 to 1,670.

In related news, the Center for Disease Control in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak reported a child death linked to HFMD on Tuesday. The deceased suffered septic shock, sepsis, and multi-organ injury.

According to the Ho Chi Minh City Center for Disease Control, HFMD is a contagious disease in children, especially those under five years old.

The illness is highly transmissible and can easily become an epidemic, but there is no vaccine to prevent it.

HFMD patients usually do not develop dangerous complications if they are diagnosed and receive medical treatment at the onset of the disease.

However, if detected late, the disease could progress seriously and some dangerous complications could arise, including fatality.

Hence, early prevention and detection of HFMD is extremely important to protect children.

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