Health officials are scrambling after a Bangkok toddler died of hand, foot and mouth disease.
The Ministry of Public Health has dispatched health officials to schools and communities where hand-foot-and-mouth disease was reported yesterday.
According to the ministry, two more children have been diagnosed with the disease, but their conditions were not serious.
The affected school has been ordered to close for six days so clean-up can commence. School staff have also been asked to check for disease symptoms among the students. If any child is found with fever and vesicle-type skin lesions, the student must be isolated from other children and the Department of Disease Control notified. Health officials said people should wash their hands regularly to prevent disease contraction.
3 people lost their lives to the disease in 2013, out of a total 44,594 reported infections. The strains found in Thailand can cause complications such as brain-stem encephalitis, abnormal heart function and heart failure, NNT reported.
Photo: Midgley DJ
