The Vietnamese Ministry of Health and the World Health Organisation have jointly released a notice on the hand-foot-mouth disease, which is spreading across the country.

According to the notice, since the beginning of this year, Vietnam has detected 42,673 cases effected with the hand-foot-mouth disease, of whom 98 have died and three-fourths of the deaths were children under three years old.

The disease is spreading in 59 out of 63 Vietnamese cities and provinces, with the most seriously affected being southern Ho Chi Minh City. WHO, the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention are joining hands with Vietnam's Disease Prevention Medicine Department in an effort to control the disease, the notice said.

The disease is caused by a type of virus called an enterovirus (EV). It is usually caused by the coxsackie A virus, but in some cases can be caused by the coxsackie B or the enterovirus 71 (EV71). It mostly affects children under 10 years old and sometimes with adults, with such symptoms of fever, throat pain and vesicle on the hand palms and foot soles. The disease will go away after about seven to 10 days, but may have serious side-effects as meningitis, myocardium or acute lung swelling./.