China’s
capital, on Wednesday, confirmed the first two-child deaths of hand-foot-mouth
disease, bringing the national toll to 42 children, state media reported,
citing health officials.
Beijing Health Bureau representative Deng Xiaohong said the
two victims were from Chaoyang District and Hebei
Province, a neighbor of Beijing, the state-run
Xinhua News Agency reports.
The child from Chaoyang died on the way to a hospital on
Sunday. The other child died in the capital after being transferred from Hebei Province
for medical treatment. They both tested positive for enterovirus 71 (EV71), a
virus that has caused the majority of HFMD deaths in China.
“Under the regulations of the Ministry of Health, the child
from Hebei should not be included in Beijing’s HFMD death toll,”
Deng said, as quoted by the same local source.
There have been reported 3,606 hand-food-mouth infections in
Beijing as of
Monday with 32 patients still in hospital under treatment. Eight of them are in
serious condition.
EV71 is a childhood illness found worldwide that spreads
with saliva, feces, fluid secreted from blisters or mucus from the nose and
throat. Symptoms typically include fever, skin rashes and sores inside the
mouth and on fingers and toes. The illness has no specific treatment, but
children usually recover quickly without problems. However, there are cases
when the illness can result in a more serious form that can lead to paralysis,
brain swelling or death.
As in the case of many other diseases, early detection and
early treatment can lead to better healing. In China’s case, early detection can
also curb the outbreak.
The HFMD outbreak started weeks ago in the eastern province of Anhui’s Fuyang city, which is the
hardest hit region. More than 24,934 cases have been reported in China with the number of new cases in Anhui province starting
to decline. Deaths have been reported in Anhui,
Guangdong, Hainan,
Hunan, Zhejiang,
Beijing, Hubei
and Guangxi.
The HFMD outbreak prompted Chinese authorities to issue a
nationwide alert, closing some kindergartens and sending officials to visit
nurseries and primary schools to educate on hygiene and prevention steps. Also,
the local authorities were strengthening supervision of food safety and water
quality in an effort to stop the disease from spreading.
“Local Communist Party and government officials are on high
alert. Health authorities are urgently taking measures to prevent the disease
and treat seriously ill children,” the health ministry said in a statement last
week.
The outbreak of EV71 comes amid preparations for the Beijing
Olympic Games in August, already tarnished by unrest among Tibetans in western China and an
international torch relay disrupted by protests. But, WHO China
representative Hans Troedsson told a news conference last week that the
outbreak is not “a threat to the Olympics or any upcoming events…This is a
disease mainly affecting young children,” the Associated Press quoted
him.
He also added that the illness usually peaks in June or
July, which means there could still be an increase in infections as the weather
warms up. The disease thrives in hot climates, and Asia has seen increased
occurrences in recent years, including in Singapore,
Vietnam and Taiwan.
