BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – There is no recommendation from the Provincial Health Office (PHO) yet to declare an outbreak of hand-foot-and-mouth disease (HFMD), said Negros Occidental governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said yesterday morning.
From Jan. 1 to 31, the Provincial Health Office (PHO) listed 320 cases – too high compared to only five in the same period last year.
The Provincial Health Office (PHO) said the number of cases has not yet hit the required level for an outbreak to be declared, according to Lacson.
Kabankalan City has the highest number of HFMD cases at 73.
No clustering of cases was noticed compared to neighboring Iloilo province where a 2,000 percent increase was logged, he added.
“The PHO is still monitoring the situation, pero as of today they are still not ready to declare an outbreak,” Lacson said.
In the meantime, Lacson advised the Department of Education (DepEd) in Negros Occidental to keep an eye on their students.
If a student is exhibiting symptoms of HFMD, they must be immediately sent home and undergo quarantine.
HFMD is characterized by painful sores in the mouth and a rash on the hands and feet. Commonly caused by the coxsackievirus, this contagious infection occurs mostly in children.
It spreads through direct contact with droplets from coughing or sneezing, touching an infected person or through kissing, hugging, or sharing utensils, contact with an infected person’s feces, and touching infected objects and surfaces.
HFMD may cause all of the following signs and symptoms or just some of them:
* fever
* sore throat
* feeling unwell
* painful, red, blister-like lesions on the tongue, gums, and inside of the cheeks
* a red rash, without itching but sometimes with blistering, on the palms, soles, and sometimes the buttocks
* irritability in infants and toddlers
* loss of appetite/PN
