Increasing number of children suffering from hand, foot and mouth disease

According to information from the hospital, in just the first 2 weeks of May, the number of medical examinations Hand, foot and mouth Outpatients at Children’s Hospital 2 amounted to 497 cases and inpatients were 40 cases, compared to the same period in April, there were only 61 outpatients and 9 inpatients. This proves that the number of children with hand, foot and mouth disease is on an increasing trend.

The number of cases of hand, foot and mouth disease hospitalized is estimated at about 40% of pediatric patients in Ho Chi Minh City. The rest of Ho Chi Minh City is scattered in neighboring provinces. Most of the children are hospitalized with fever for many days in a row, accompanied by red blisters on hands, feet, even sores in the throat that interfere with the child’s eating and drinking.

MSc Nguyen Dinh Qui, Executive Director of the Department of Infection, said: The number of cases of hand, foot and mouth disease will continue to increase in the next 1-2 weeks. Currently, the hospitalization rate is mostly mild, while grade 2B (severe) accounts for only 5 – 6%.

Currently, the Department of Infection has fully arranged hospital beds based on the situation of previous years and forecasts in the coming time.

Besides, the number of dengue fever cases is also increasing sharply in parallel with the number of hand, foot and mouth infections, so doctors are also concerned about the epidemic situation. Therefore, the department has conducted screening, channeling, and isolation areas to avoid close contact and infection of children.

Doctors also note: Parents should take their children to the doctor when detecting symptoms of the disease. If it is mild, it will be treated by outpatients to avoid severe progression. Because late hospitalization will have unpredictable complications such as meningitis; fulminant myocarditis is likely to die within 24 hours if not promptly intervened.