On September 27, Associate Professor, Doctor, Doctor Pham Van Quang, Head of the Department of Intensive Care and Anti-Poisoning, Children's Hospital 1 (HCMC) said that after a few weeks of stability, the hand, foot and mouth disease situation is currently flaring up in the Western provinces in the context of children starting to go back to school, especially in Can Tho. Currently, the Intensive Care Department of Children's Hospital 1 has 10 severe cases of hand, foot and mouth disease, including 8 children on ventilators and 2 children on dialysis. All are in the provinces, mostly in the Western region.
The hospital has also just recorded a case of a child dying from hand, foot and mouth disease. The 3-year-old patient, residing in Ca Mau, had previously shown signs of fever and fatigue and was transferred to a local hospital for treatment. The patient was diagnosed with hand, foot and mouth disease. After 2 days on a ventilator, the patient's condition worsened with a severe prognosis. At the family's request, the child was transferred to Children's Hospital 1 for emergency treatment.
Hand, foot and mouth disease often occurs in children under 5 years old.
According to Dr. Pham Van Quang, the child was in critical condition when admitted to the hospital. Doctors tried to save him, but just 15 minutes after admission, the child went into cardiac arrest and died with a diagnosis of grade 4 hand, foot and mouth disease.
Specialist Doctor 2 Nguyen Minh Tien, Deputy Director of the City Children's Hospital, said that the hospital is currently treating 7 severe cases of hand, foot and mouth disease, including 5 cases on ventilators and 2 cases requiring dialysis.
Signs of hand, foot and mouth disease getting worse
Dr. Quang advised parents that if they detect signs of hand, foot, and mouth disease such as rash, blisters on the palms, soles, knees, buttocks, and sore throats, they should take their children to see a doctor. Children should be taken to a medical facility promptly if they have severe signs of hand, foot, and mouth disease:
- High fever that is difficult to reduce, fever for more than 2 days
- Vomiting a lot
- Startled
- Shaking limbs, staggering
- Shortness of breath
- Cold limbs, goose bumps
- Convulsions, perceptual disturbances...
According to the Ministry of Health, from the beginning of the year to September 20, the country has recorded more than 80,700 cases of hand, foot and mouth disease, 21 deaths. Compared to the same period in 2022 (47,896/3 deaths), the number of hand, foot and mouth disease cases increased by 68.6%, the number of deaths increased by 18 cases. Since the beginning of 2023, there has been an increase in the rate of cases positive for the EV71 virus. This is a strain that often causes severe illness, easily causes complications and can be fatal.
How to care for children with hand, foot and mouth disease?
According to the Ho Chi Minh City Center for Disease Control (HCDC), hand, foot and mouth disease is most contagious if caused by Enterovirus 71 (EV71). Most children with the disease will recover on their own. However, in some cases, children may develop severe complications affecting the brain and heart.
How to care for children with hand, foot and mouth disease is mainly related to diet, because when children have hand, foot and mouth disease, it is very difficult to eat. Pay attention to feeding children liquid, easy-to-digest foods. If the mouth hurts a lot, you should see a doctor to get painkillers for the mouth. If you take good care of your child, the disease will be cured in 5-7 days.
However, the most important thing is to detect complications early with signs of startle and sleep changes. If left too late, the child may have difficulty breathing, convulsions, and then a rapid pulse with no pulse.
There is no vaccine to prevent hand, foot and mouth disease. This is a disease transmitted through the digestive tract, so the most important thing is to maintain hygiene. The virus that causes the disease is found in saliva, ulcers, and blister fluid. The virus can exist on the surface of objects around the sick child. The child's hands or the hands of the caregiver when touching objects contaminated with the virus will carry the virus on the hands. If the hands are brought to the eyes, nose, or mouth, the virus will enter the body.
Therefore, the most important prevention is to wash the hands of children and caregivers, and to clean and disinfect surfaces that hands often touch. Caregivers need to ensure hand hygiene and wash their hands regularly to avoid spreading viruses to children.
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