picture by ShanghaiistShanghaiist reports the latest on China's newest viral problem: the hand, foot and mouth disease or EV71(HFMD). The disease has now claimed over 5,000 cases, with 25 casualties. In Fuyang, the source of the outbreak, all kindergardens have been closed for the time being.
I have quite some friends in China who got children over the past few years and they must be really worried, since it takes a while before the spread of the virus, known to peak in June and July, will expose itself.
Shanghai itself has not yet been bit, but that might only be a matter of time. I would keep my children at home for a while, although that might not offer much guarantee either.
This is what wikipedia says about the illness:
HFMD usually affects infants and children, and is quite common. It is highly contagious and is spread through direct contact with the mucus, saliva, or feces of an infected person. It typically occurs in small epidemics in nursery schools or kindergartens, usually during the summer and autumn months. The usual incubation period is 3-7 days.It is most certainly a different league than the SARS-virus, but there is still reason enough to watch it carefully.
1 comment:
The Chinese government is already fighting this virus rigorously. The first step was not to tell Taiwan about it. Taiwan is, of course, stopped by Beijing to join the WHO where it can get this kind of information. After making China the only source of information of this kind, China forbid to send the information to Taiwan.
This is a great example Beijing is showing to the world how they treat the weak minorities - with contempt, inconsideration, and underhanded.
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