BEIJING - Hand, foot and mouth disease, a virus that usually peaks during the hot months, has already killed 260 children in China this year and sickened hundreds of thousands more, the government said Friday.
Every spring and summer China sees deadly outbreaks of the disease, which typically infects infants and children, particularly in rural areas where hygiene is poor. Most cases are mild, with children recovering quickly after suffering little more than a fever and rash.
But the disease has struck earlier than normal this year, and by May 4 the number of deaths reported were 143 per cent higher than the same period last year, said Xiao Donglou, the Health Ministry's deputy director of disease control and prevention, according to the Beijing News. An official with the ministry's press section confirmed the accuracy of the figures reported.
Hand, foot and mouth disease is characterized by fever, mouth sores and a rash with blisters. It is spread by direct contact with nose and throat discharges, saliva, fluid from blisters, or the stool of infected people. It is unrelated to the foot and mouth disease that affects livestock.
Nearly 430,000 children have been sickened by the disease so far this year while severe cases have jumped by two-thirds to 5,454, the report cited Xiao as saying. Last year, there were 353 deaths from the disease, according to Health Ministry figures.
Xiao said hand, foot and mouth disease usually spreads widely in the May to July period but started to enter the peak season in April this year. Outbreaks were occurring mainly in Guangdong province and the Guangxi region in southern China.
The sharp jump in the number of cases could be because of better monitoring and reporting by local health authorities and increased public awareness about the disease, said Liu Min, an epidemiology professor at Peking University School of Public Health.
"We're now doing a much better job of discovering and monitoring cases since 2008 when the disease was included in the national infectious disease monitoring system," Liu said in a phone interview. "Lots of cases and deaths now can be traced to hand, foot and mouth disease."
Liu said environmental factors such as temperature and humidity could bring forward the disease's peak season, but added because China had only started closely monitoring the disease in 2008, there was still insufficient data to base an analysis on.
There is no vaccine or specific treatment for the virus. Last month, Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang called for stepped-up research into vaccines and drugs for the disease after 40 children died from outbreaks in March, state media reported.
