Test ordered in death of 2 year-old
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Number of schools hit rises to 34 as disease outbreak continues
A detailed lab test is now ongoing to determine whether a two-year-old child succumbed to hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) on Tuesday.
The child died of heartmuscle inflammation at the Nopparat Rajathanee Hospital.
“The cause of the inflammation is not known. We need a lab test to determine whether it is related to the HFMD,” hospital director Passakorn Chaiwanich said.
Public Health Ministry permanent secretary Dr Paijit Warachit said the initial test ruled out HFMD as the cause of death but moredetailed lab tests are ongoing.
“We may know the result in five days,” he said. The recent outbreak of HFMD has claimed dozens of lives in Cambodia. However, Thai authorities have insisted that the strains spreading in Cambodia are more severe than the strains usually found in Thailand.
So far this year, 13,918 cases of HFMD have been reported. Emerging Infectious Diseases Bureau director and Disease Control Department spokesman Dr Rungruang Kitpati yesterday said the spread of HFMD in Thailand was now reaching its peak in terms of the number of cases.
“We believe HFMD will be spreading for four to six more weeks. After that, the outbreak will ease,” Rungruang said.
HFMD is hitting more schools, including the prestigious Wattana Wittaya Academy and Bangkok Christian College.
The number of schools suspending some classes or closing down the whole facilities in the wake of HFMD outbreak yesterday rose to 34 from 29 on Tuesday.
“There are four students coming down with HFMD at the Wattana Wittaya Academy,” Office of Private Education Commission secretary general Charnwit Tapsupan said.
Another source said there were between eight and nine students catching HFMD at the Bangkok Christian College.
Disease Control Department directorgeneral Dr Pornthep Siriwanarangsan said if more than two students in the same the class caught HFMD, that class should be suspended.
“If there are more than five students with HFMD at the same school, that school should close down for about one week,” he said.
HFMD is usually spread among children, mostly under five years of age.
Education Minister Suchart Tadathamrongvej urged schools to transparently report cases of HFMD.
“Don’t try to cover them up. We need accurate information to provide timely and efficient control of the disease,” he explained.
In Kanchanaburi, the Tessaban 3 (Ban Bor) School in Muang Kanchanaburi district suspended four of its classes for seven days after two students were diagnosed with HFMD. The suspension has affected 170 children.
“We have already contacted the Kanchanaburi publichealth office to ask for the disinfectantspraying services,” school director Bussaba Kanwareetip said.
According to her, all the HFMDaffected students are in the Pathom 2 class. Their cases were first detected on Tuesday.
Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Science yesterday announced that it was ready to provide disinfectant gel or spray for free to interested schools.
“The gel and spray produced by us are highly effective against HFMD,” said Prof Dr Sopon Roengsumran, a chemistry teacher.
Sopon said the common disinfectant gels and sprays in the market are not effective against the HFMD because of their content, 70 per cent of which was ethyl alcohol.
“For HFMD, ethyl alchohol must be 90 per cent,” he said.
