The revelation came during a meeting to discuss monitoring the situation, and methods of prevention, at the Provincial Administration Organisation Hospital on Wednesday (August 1).
HFMD – not to be confused with foot and mouth disease – is a contagious viral disease mostly affecting children under the age of five. It is characterised by an uncomfortable eruption of rashes on the hands, feet and mouth.
Dr Sak said the disease is currently epidemic in Thailand, with 17,656 cases reported this year as of a week ago.
The greatest number is reported in Payao province, the next greatest in Chiang Mai, with Phuket third.
“More than 200 cases have been reported in Phuket,” said Dr Sak, “but as manifested here the disease here is not especially virulent.”
The provincial Health Office nonetheless has set up a “war room” to monitor its progress, with special attention paid to schools, children’s nurseries, and public places.
“To keep a lid on the situation,” said the doctor, “the relevant government units must fully cooperate in their efforts.” To that end, his office is spreading “detailed knowledge” about the disease and its prevention “to those networks and government agencies involved”.
Dr Sak said the infection rate in Phuket is in fact slowing: “The infection rate was averaging 40 a month,” he said, “but in July the average was 20.”
Two people in Thailand have reportedly died of the disease.
HFMD, which is moderately contagious, is spread through direct contact with infected mucus, saliva, or feces. Typically the disease causes small epidemics in nursery schools or kindergartens, usually during summer and autumn. The incubation period is three to seven days.
The disease is caused by the same picornaviridae virus as the more well-known foot-and-mouth disease that affects sheep, cattle, and pigs, but symptoms are different and it is not transferred from animals to humans.
Early symptoms are fever followed by sore throat, loss of appetite and general malaise. A day or two day later, painful sores may appear in mouth or throat, and the hands, feet, mouth, tongue, inside of the cheeks, and sometimes the buttocks erupt in rash.
There is no specific treatment; fever and pain from the sores are alleviated by analgesics. Like the common cold, it is a viral disease that must run its course. – Source: Manager Online