Hanoi (VNA) - The Ministry of Health hasasked local authorities and hospitals nationwide to strengthen preventivemeasures to control the spread of hand-foot-mouth disease.

In the first nine months of this year, over53,500 infections were reported nationwide, and nearly 25,900 victims werehospitalised, six of whom died in five cities and provinces in the south.

Deputy Director of the Health Ministry’sPreventive Medicine Department Dang Quang Tan said that compared with the sameperiod last year, the number of infections had dropped by 25 percent and thenumber of hospitalised patients had fallen 20 percent.

Hanoi, Da Nang and localities in the southincluding Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai, Binh Duong, Dong Thap and Long An haveseen sharp increases in the last few weeks.

The disease tends to spread quickly as students returnfor the new school year, he said, adding that there was no vaccine for thedisease.

The Health Ministry asked local healthdepartments to work closely with education departments and schools to spreadthe word about disease prevention and control, especially in kindergartens andpreschools.

Schools have been instructed to provide soap inbathrooms and ensure students wash their hands.

In Vietnam, the disease occurs throughout theyear, but the peak season is from March until May and September to December.Children can get hand-foot-mouth disease at all ages but children below threeyears old are more susceptible.

The disease is usually a short mild illness, butin some cases patients can experience complications such as encephalitis,meningitis, myocarditis and acute pneumochysis, which can cause death if notproperly treated.

Last year, over 100,000 hand-foot-mouth diseasecases were detected, of which one death was reported.-VNA