Public Health: Thailand's Hand, Foot and Mouth in the human population
The Thai News Agency reports that as many as 14,000 people have been infected with Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease (HNFD) in an outbreak that is spreading across the region and the world. Reports say that the number of reported cases has fallen in the past week but is still worrying enough for the Prime Minister, Yingluck Shinawatra Yingluck, to have issued a statement saying that disease control measures are to be stepped up and that there must be increased vigilance.
In Cambodia, EV-71, a particularly virulent form of the disease, has killed at least 54 people but medical sources say that the number may have been increased by the innaproriate use of steroids in an attempt to cure what was, at first, an unidentified illness amongst children in a Phnom Penh hospital. Other non-fatal cases have now been identified. Most of the deaths were of infants of less than three years of age. To combat the spread of the disease, Cambodia closed schools in the affected area.
In the USA, doctors have reported a significant increase in the number of cases in Hartford, Connecticut. One hospital has reported seeing as many as nine patients in one day, most infants or young children.
The spread of the disease in Argentina has led to Japan introducing restrictions on imports from that country.
An outbreak in Sabah, in Malaysian Borneo, led to a one-week closure of schools and daycare centres in May this year and the outbreak appears to have been contained. In Sarawak, also in Malaysian Borneo, there were 806 cases in the first seven weeks of this year - almost four times the number in the same period in 2011. But the Malaysian Health Ministry said that the number did not qualify to be classified as an "outbreak." Again, kindergartens were closed. http://chiefofficers.net/888333888/cms/index.php/news/industries/health_care_pharma/public_health/public_health_thailand_s_hand_foot_and_mouth_in_the_human_population
In Cambodia, EV-71, a particularly virulent form of the disease, has killed at least 54 people but medical sources say that the number may have been increased by the innaproriate use of steroids in an attempt to cure what was, at first, an unidentified illness amongst children in a Phnom Penh hospital. Other non-fatal cases have now been identified. Most of the deaths were of infants of less than three years of age. To combat the spread of the disease, Cambodia closed schools in the affected area.
In the USA, doctors have reported a significant increase in the number of cases in Hartford, Connecticut. One hospital has reported seeing as many as nine patients in one day, most infants or young children.
The spread of the disease in Argentina has led to Japan introducing restrictions on imports from that country.
An outbreak in Sabah, in Malaysian Borneo, led to a one-week closure of schools and daycare centres in May this year and the outbreak appears to have been contained. In Sarawak, also in Malaysian Borneo, there were 806 cases in the first seven weeks of this year - almost four times the number in the same period in 2011. But the Malaysian Health Ministry said that the number did not qualify to be classified as an "outbreak." Again, kindergartens were closed. http://chiefofficers.net/888333888/cms/index.php/news/industries/health_care_pharma/public_health/public_health_thailand_s_hand_foot_and_mouth_in_the_human_population
