Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien warned parents and teachers earlier this week about a likely surge in hand, foot and mouth disease cases as preschools and kindergartens opened for the new school year.
According to the ministry, there have been 42,700 reported cases of hand, foot and mouth so far this year. There were 98 fatalities from the disease – three-quarters of which involved children under three years old.
Hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) has broken out in most Vietnamese cities and provinces but the majority of cases have been in the central and southern parts of the country.
Ministry figures indicate that outbreaks of the disease typically peak in March to May and September to December.
In a bid to contain the epidemic, the Health Ministry has organised 84 HFMD training courses on surveillance and prevention for grassroots preventative medicine workers and pre-school teachers. In addition, ways to prevent infection are being promoted in an ongoing nationwide public awareness campaign in the media.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the US Centre for Disease Control (CDC) is supporting the General Department of Preventive Medicine\'s efforts to control the disease.
"The WHO and the CDC are working closely with the Health Ministry to determine the cause of the unusual increase in cases and deaths, and investigate the epidemiological characteristics of HFMD in Viet Nam," Dr Graham Harrison, the acting WHO representative, said.
Typical symptoms of HFMD include fevers, blister-like eruptions in the mouth and rashes.
Currently, there is no HFMD vaccine or specific drugs to combat infection.
However, high standards of personal hygiene can significantly reduce the risk of infection.
The HFMD virus spreads from person to person by direct physical contact.
Source: VNS