Vietnam Reports One More Hand-Foot-Mouth Death Case

Vietnam recorded one more hand-foot-mouth disease (HFMD) death case in the last week of the year 2011, bringing the total number of such cases to 166 so far this year, said the Health Ministry’s Preventive Medicine Department. The victim, a two-year-old child, from the southern province of Long An died after 68-day treatment. The ill-fated kid was tested to positive to the coxsackie B or the enterovirus 71 (EV71). Such death was among more than 1,548 infection cases recorded in the week from Dec 23-29, bringing the total such cases to 110,000 so far this year. The disease has spreading its wings to all 63 provinces and cities, claiming 166 lives in 53 localities since beginning of this year, triggering concerns of local residents and experts over the widespread disease. The infection and death figures represent ten times higher than the last year’s amid an undeclared epidemic from the ministry.  There are five provinces in Vietnam reported high incidences of the contagious disease in the first three weeks of Dec, comprising the northern seaport city of Haiphong, HCM City, the southern provinces of Dong Thap, Kien Giang and Dong Nai. Nearly 27.2% of 114 HFMD deaths in the country were caused by wrong diagnosis, the ministry’s Department of Medical Examination and Treatment said, adding that to cope with the situation, experts proposed to boost professional and technical training for the lower-level health centers in order to limit the regrettable mistakes. Despite the surging incidence, the Health Ministry still refused to declare the epidemic by saying that the disease is under control and will only announce the epidemic nationwide if at least two localities announce the epidemic. In 2010, Vietnam reported only 14 among total 10,500 infection cases. Experts predicted that the disease prevalence is likely to decline in the coming months due to cold weather conditions that restrict the development of pathogenic virus.  Earlier, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) jointly determined the cause of the unusually high increase in the number of HFMD infections and deaths as well as the epidemiological features of the infectious disease. (Ha Noi Moi – New Hanoi Dec 30, Tien Phong – Pioneer Dec 6)