HCM City (VNA) – Ho ChiMinh City has seen a downward trend in dengue-fever disease, but a surge in hand-foot-mouthdisease since August, particularly in the new school year, according to thePreventive Health Centre in HCM City.

Dr Le Hong Nga, Head of the Centre’sDepartment of Infection Control, so far this year, hospitals across the cityreported 13,763 dengue fever cases, up 22 percent year on year. Over the pastsix weeks, the number of dengue fever patients visiting hospital for treatmentdropped about 10 percent, from over 500 cases per week to around 450 cases.

Meanwhile, around 3,410 localchildren visited hospital for hand-foot-mouth disease treatment in the reviewedperiod, Nga said.

In August, the number of hospitalisedchildren with hand-foot-mouth disease was 10 percent higher than the previousmonths, particularly in Children’s Hospital 1, Children’s Hospital 2, and HCMCity Children’s Hospital.

Dr Nguyen Tran Nam, Head of theDepartment of Infection of the HCM Children’s Hospital said over the lastmonth, the number of children getting hand-foot-mouth disease surged, however,most of them were treated at home.

According to Dr Truong Huu Khanh,Head of the Department of Infection and Neurology of Children’s Hospital 1, thedisease tended to spread among children at kindergartens, suggesting thatteachers should be trained to detect the infection early.

According to health experts, hand,foot and mouth disease is most contagious in the first week after a patient isinfected and may last for several weeks due to the virus focal in the waste.Signs of the disease are fever, sore throat, oral mucosal lesions and skinmainly in the form of scalds commonly found on the palms, soles of the feet,knees and buttocks.

Most cases are mild. However, in some cases, the disease can be severe anddangerous complications such as encephalitis, myocarditis and acute pulmonaryedema that could lead to death should be detected early to ensure timelytreatment

The hand-foot-mouth disease mainly occurs in children under the age of 10, andparticularly in those under five. The smaller the child is, the more seriousthe symptoms are.

Pregnant women should especially avoid close contact with an infected personsince the virus can be transmitted to the baby either before birth or duringchildbirth. A person can be infected multiple times because every time he orshe is infected, the body produces antibodies to a specific virus. Therefore,even if a person has been infected once, the disease can return if infectedwith another virus belonging to the Enterovirus group.-VNA