The Ministry of Health has requested municipal and provincial health departments to intensify the struggle against hand-foot-mouth disease, which has killed two children in Vietnam so far this year.

The ministry also urged health centres to tighten inspections and swiftly detect infections in order to prevent the spread of the disease.

Departments have been ordered to prevent combined infections of hand-foot-mouth disease with measles, pneumonia and other respiratory illnesses.

The ministry called on the population to ensure personal hygiene by washing hands with soap, cooking food well and making sure children wash regularly.

Children showing symptoms of hand-foot-mouth disease should be immediately quarantined and brought to a health centre for check-ups and treatment, the ministry said.

The ministry’s Preventive Medicine Department said on May 2 that Vietnam has recorded 17,410 cases of hand-foot-mouth diseases since the beginning of this year.

Although the number of fatalities and infections have dropped compared with the same period last year, several localities, such as Ho Chi Minh City and the southern provinces of Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Ca Mau, have been hit hard by the disease.

Hand-foot-mouth disease is a viral disease fairly common in children. It can be caused by a number of viruses, most commonly the coxsackie virus. The virus can be transmitted through nose and throat secretions, the fluid in blisters of infected persons, and through stool.-VNA