MoH, WHO issue joint statement on hand-food-mouth disease

Since the beginning of 2011 until September 04, some 42,673 cases had been diagnosed with the disease, including 98 deaths. Two thirds of the deaths were children aged from zero to three, the statement says.

The disease has been recorded in almost all provinces and cities, but most of the infected cases have been found in the South and Central Region.

A series of measures have been deployed to prevent the disease spread. Prime Minister Nguyễn Tấn Dũng requested local authorities and related ministries to further take preventive measures, while the Ministry of Health provided monitoring and treatment instructions.

Minister of Health Nguyễn Thị Kim Tiến, however said that the number of new cases would increase in coming months as the nursery schools start new academic year.

The Ministry is coordinating with the WHO and US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (USCDC) to identify the cause of the abnormal rise in the number of new cases and deaths, said Dr. Graham Harrison, the Acting WHO Representative in Viet Nam.

By Hải Minh