Provinces and cities urged to strengthen measures against hand-foot-mouth disease

Paediatric patients treated for hand, foot and mouth disease at HCM City’s Children’s Hospital No 1, of which over 65 per cent of the cases come from other provinces. — VNA/VNS Photo

HCM CITY — The HCM City health sector has recommended provinces and cities strengthen measures against hand-foot-mouth disease to ensure patients receive early treatment.

According to a report from the HCM City Health Department, nearly 65 per cent of cases treated in the HCM City hospitals come from other provinces.

According to statistics from the HCM City Pasteur Institute, 20 provinces and cities in the southern region have so far this year recorded 124,345 cases, or 2.6 times the figure last year.

In HCM City alone, there have been 44,467 cases of hand-foot-mouth disease, or 35.7 per cent of the total.

A report from the Pasteur Institute in HCM City showed that the development of the disease in the southern region has been inconsistent this year.

In previous years, the disease would gradually decrease after reaching its peak. However, the number of cases this year reached its peak and then decreased slowly, before increasing again.

The disease would later continue to decrease slowly, but the number of cases remained higher than the same period in 2022.

Despite the decrease in the number of cases, the percentage of patients admitted to hospitals from other provinces and cities remains at almost 70 per cent.

Serious cases transferred from other provinces and cities account for nearly 85 per cent.

Measures

In response to the situation, the HCM City Health Department has developed a specific plan to ensure the treatment of the disease following various scenarios.

The city health sector will classify paediatric patients for outpatient and inpatient treatment, and specifically assign medical facilities to treat the patients to avoid overloading and minimise the number of deaths.

The department said it will continue to implement disease prevention and control measures, including strengthening surveillance of the disease in districts and schools, and handling outbreaks according to regulations.

It has requested healthcare facilities in the city to fully prepare medical equipment, drugs, and supplies to treat patients in the city and from other provinces and cities.

It will organise training sessions to enhance treatment capacity at all healthcare facilities, from clinics to district-level and provincial hospitals with pediatric departments in the city.

Hand-foot-mouth is an infectious disease of the gastrointestinal tract, which can progress rapidly and threaten life.

Families with children under five years old, strictly implement disease prevention measures such as frequent hand washing with soap under running water for children and caregivers and regularly cleaning surfaces and tools children come into contact with every day.

When detecting signs of illness, the children should be taken to the nearest medical facility.

Parents have to closely monitor children to detect early signs of serious illness such as high fever, constant crying, rapid pulse and weakness in limbs, the department recommended. — VNS