Hand, foot and mouth diseases is a painful sickness that normally affects children under 6.
The Health Director-General, Datuk Dr Muhammad Radzi Abu Hassan, said in a statement that (HFMD) cases in the country exceeded the national alert level of 1,150 cases per week during Epidemiological Week (EW) 19 from May 7 to 13, reported BERNAMA.
Out of all the cases, Selangor contributed the most with 2,443, or 24.9% of the total number of cases followed by Sabah (1,505 cases), the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya (977), Johor (915), Sarawak ( 750).
About 87.4% or 8,587 cases were children under the age of 6. None of the cases are in the ICU and there were no deaths reported.
The director general said that places where children gather are where HFMD commonly occurs. Up to 13 May, about 273 clusters were reported in the year 2023, 170 clusters occurred in nurseries, kindergartens, pre-schools and daycare centres, while 101 clusters occurred in private homes and two in schools.
The Ministry has asked the public to take preventive measures such as washing hands with soap and clean water after going to the toilet, changing diapers, touching blisters, and touching the infected children’s belongings.
Children who have symptoms of HFMD should not be going to school or public places as well.
HFMD seems like a very painful sickness, we hope that parents and families will be vigilant.
