VietNamNet Bridge – The Medical Prevention Department has warned of new virus strains causing hand-foot-mouth disease and urged local health agencies to prepare preventive measures against possible outbreaks of the disease in different regions.

According to the department under the Ministry of Health, there have been as many as 1,600 cases nationwide in the year to date, a year-on-year fall of 31.2%. There has been one death recorded in the period.

In the first half of this month, 39 children in Hanoi contracted the disease, prompting the Hanoi Department of Health and Preventive Medicine Center to take action. Parents are advised to keep their houses, home appliances and toys for their children clean.

In HCMC, Children’s Hospital 1 and 2 have reported more than 10 children with hand-foot-mouth disease this year.

The latest tests conducted by the HCMC-based Pasteur Institute showed each region has different virus strains causing the disease, which is known as Coxsackie in the north and EV71 in the southern region.

The drastic preventive measures taken by the health sector helped reduce the number of infections and deaths last year. Though doctors say the disease often gets worse in hot weather conditions, the Preventive Medicine Department has warned of a possible recurrence of the disease this year as different virus strains have been found.

A person or child gets infected with the disease due to poor personal hygiene. Washing hands with anti-bacteria soaps is one of the effective ways to prevent the disease.

SGT