Health authorities confirm no HFMD death in Thailand

BANGKOK, July 17 (TNA) - Thai Public Health Minister Wittaya Buranasiri confirmed on Tuesday that there has been no death caused by the hand, food, mouth disease (HFMD) in Thailand so far and the number of HFMD patients this year has been comparable to last year. In a special interview with Thai News Agency (TNA) on Tuesday, Wittaya insisted that there have been no reports on any HFMD fatality in Thailand but only a slight increase of HFMD patients in the country so far this year, and that HFMD infections can be prevented by maintaining good hygiene, consuming warmed and well-cooked food and using serving spoons. Wittaya said that Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has expressed her concerns over the HFMD situation in Thailand and has instructed agencies concerned to keep a close watch against the disease, particularly any outbreak among children, to consider ordering the temporary suspension of some classes or the closure of some schools where at least a suspected HFMD case is detected and to send medical teams to any school or community where more than 10 suspected HFMD cases are reported to closely take care of the children and to launch an all-out clean-up to ensure standard hygiene. According to the minister, he has, therefore, ordered all public health agencies nationwide to immediately launch public campaigns to provide proper knowledge against the HFMD to local people to prevent panic despite death toll in neighbouring countries and to encourage parents to take their children to doctors if HFMD-like symptoms are detected, namely high fever and blisters on their palms of hand and feet. The Thai health minister acknowledged that there had been 12,581 HFMD patients nationwide during January 1-July 11, 2012, most are children aged below 5 years old and the majority of the HFMD cases, or 4,354 of them, were found in central provinces, followed by 3,523 patients in the Thai North, 2,556 patients in the Thai South and 2,418 patients in the Thai Northeast. (TNA)