Complex developments
According to statistics, in week 33/2023, the whole country recorded 5,727 cases of hand, foot and mouth disease, no deaths. Compared to the previous week (6,535/0), the number of cases decreased by 12.4%.
Accumulated from the beginning of the year, the whole country recorded 68,096 cases of hand, foot and mouth disease, including 18 deaths. Compared to the same period in 2022 (44,724/3), the number of hand, foot and mouth disease cases this year up to this point has increased by 52.3%, the number of deaths has increased by 15 cases.
Hand, foot and mouth disease is spreading among children, parents need to pay close attention to avoid complications (photo source: internet).
In Ho Chi Minh City, from August 14 to August 20, 2023 (week 33), the number of hand, foot and mouth disease cases decreased with 1,869 cases recorded, while in week 31, Ho Chi Minh City recorded 2,401 cases of hand, foot and mouth disease, and in week 30, there were 2,665 cases.
Experts say that hand, foot and mouth disease in Vietnam is mainly caused by Enterovirus 71 (EV71) and Coxsackie A16. The disease can occur in all subjects, however, up to 90% of cases occur in children under 3 years old. EV71 often causes severe illness and can easily cause complications and death.
In our country, hand, foot and mouth disease has increased in the rate of cases positive for the EV71 strain since the beginning of 2023. This characteristic makes hand, foot and mouth disease cases more severe than in previous years.
How to prevent disease
According to the Department of Preventive Medicine, it is now the beginning of the new school year, there is a high risk of spreading hand, foot and mouth disease if schools and especially preschools and family nurseries do not properly implement personal and environmental hygiene measures to prevent hand, foot and mouth disease.
To actively prevent and minimize the impact of hand, foot and mouth disease on health, especially children and students, right from the beginning of the new school year, the Department of Preventive Medicine strongly recommends that people proactively implement the following disease prevention measures:
Personal hygiene: Wash hands regularly with soap under running water many times a day (both adults and children), especially before preparing food, before eating/feeding children, before holding children, after using the toilet, after changing diapers and cleaning children.
Food hygiene: Children's food must be nutritious; cooked food and boiled water; eating utensils must be washed thoroughly before use (preferably in boiling water);
Use clean water in daily activities; do not feed children; do not let children eat with their hands, suck their fingers, or suck on toys; do not let children share napkins, handkerchiefs, eating utensils such as cups, bowls, plates, spoons, or unsterilized toys.
Cleaning toys and living areas: Households, kindergartens, and home childcare centers need to regularly clean surfaces and objects that come into daily contact such as toys, learning tools, doorknobs, stair handrails, table/chair surfaces, and floors with soap or common detergents.
Collection and treatment of children's waste: Use hygienic toilets, children's feces and waste must be collected, treated and dumped into hygienic toilets.
Early detection monitoring: Children must be regularly monitored for their health to promptly detect, isolate, and treat cases of illness, avoiding the spread of disease to other children.
Isolate and treat promptly when the disease occurs: Nursery schools, kindergartens, concentrated child care groups and households with children under 6 years old need to proactively monitor the health of children to promptly detect and immediately take them to medical facilities for timely treatment.
Sick children must be isolated for at least 10 days from the onset of the disease. Children showing symptoms of the disease must not be allowed to attend class or play with other children. Children must be taken immediately to medical facilities for examination and treatment.
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