Sharp rise in hand, foot and mouth disease in Can Tho
The number of children infected with hand, foot and mouth disease in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho has sharply increased since last month, according to the municipal Preventive Medical and Heath Care Centre.
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The centre said by last weekend, the number of patients in the first nine months of the year had increased by 13.5% compared to the same period last year.
Of the city’s nine districts, O Mon district saw the highest increase with 78.7% compared to the same period last year.
The Can Tho Children Hospital reported it received an average of 100 cases of hand and foot-mouth disease daily, mostly children aged two or three years old from around the city and other provinces in the Mekong Delta, including Soc Trang, Hau Giang, Vinh Long and An Giang.
According to the hospital’s statistics, there has also been an increase in the number of infants under a year old hospitalised due to hand, foot and mouth disease.
Doctors and experts at the hospital appealed for authorities to improve local peoples’ awareness of the disease by providing information about preventive medical programmes and helping them get admitted to hospitals in a timely fashion for treatment to avoid severe consequences.
