Vietnam logs over 68,000 HFMD cases in year to date: health ministry
Monday, August 28, 2023, 15:46 GMT+7
Up to 68,096 hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) cases have been reported in Vietnam so far this year, soaring 52 percent over the same period last year, according to data from the Ministry of Health.
The death toll due to HFMD reached 18 during the given period, up 15 cases year on year.
In the 33rd epidemiological week (August 14-20), the country saw 5,727 HFMD cases and no deaths, falling 12 percent against the previous week.
Ho Chi Minh City has witnessed a declining number of HFMD cases in recent weeks, with 1,869 infections reported in the 33rd week, compared to 2,401 cases in the 31st week and 2,665 cases in the 30th week.
A report from the Hanoi Center for Disease Control revealed that the Vietnamese capital logged a weekly average of 40-50 HFMD infections over the past few weeks.
Total HFMD infections in Hanoi have reached 1,169, as recorded since the beginning of the year, down almost 100 cases year over year, despite 36 HFMD clusters.
Health experts said that most HFMD infections in Vietnam were caused by the Enterovirus 71 (EV71) and Coxsackie A16 strains.
People of all age groups are susceptible to HFMD, but up to 90 percent of the infections occur in children aged under three.
The EV71 strain causes serious HFMD with a high risk of death.
The Vietnam General Department of Preventive Medicine, under the Health Ministry, noted that the start of a new academic year will increase the spread of this infectious disease if schools, especially kindergartens and nursery schools, are slack in adopting measures to prevent HFMD.
The department advised people to maintain the following practices to avoid and reduce HFMD cases, including keeping personal hygiene; ensuring food safety and hygiene, disinfecting toys and play zones at home, kindergartens, nursery schools; collecting and treating waste properly; monitoring and timely detecting HFMD symptoms among children; and timely isolating and sending kids to medical centers if they show infection signs.
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