Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Anhui, children dead, china, enterovirus 71, EV-71, fuyang, hand-foot-mouth disease, rld health organisation, who, wohand-foot-mouth disease
8,500 Chinese children have contracted hand-foot-mouth disease, and 24 have died.
The epidemic is deemed so serious that even the state run media have acknowledged the extent of the problem.
According to Chinese health authorities the most affected province has been Anhui, a rural region in eastern China, where 22 children died from enterovirus 71, or EV-71.
The number of infected children has steadily increased since hospitals in Fuyang began admitting patients with fever, ulcers in the mouth, or a rash on their hands and feet, according to the Anhui Health Bureau’s website.
The provincial government has quarantined patients and controlled movement in and out of Fuyang, the town in Anhui province where the outbreak started in mid-March, and where the 22 children died.
The World Health Organization said it was concerned about the number of deaths in the current outbreak, although EV71 has been reported in China before.
Attempts to cover up the scale of that outbreak led to the sacking of China’s health minister and promises of reform.
Hand-foot-mouth has no relation to the foot-and-mouth disease that affects farm animals.
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