What's turning out to be an increasingly tragic case of foot-hand and mouth disease continues to spread in China. Last week I read about the outbreak (Washington Post) that has now claimed the lives of 30 children and immediately thought, why so many?
The common childhood illness, which is highly contagious, isn't exactly known for it's high fatality rates. Chinese health officials have stated that accurate and more readily available reporting is a reason why we are hearing infection numbers this year, roughly 20,000 affected with HFMD. Most of the deaths have also been from the Puyang region, a poor eastern province of Anhui; despite the high numbers, and reports all over china about the outbreak, The World Health Organization has said that China was not facing a new
or more virulent strain of hand, foot and mouth, despite an unusually
high number of child deaths.
Why then has it been slow to detect the symptoms associated with HFMD? Are there new symptoms? The spread and rate at which it is killing young children appears unprecedented, even if the central location of most of the reported cases are in a poor region; where it may be suggested that prevention practices are not widely known or practiced. Still, why so many all of a sudden?
If you come across it, here's How to prevent its spread.
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