SHAH ALAM – A total of 6,748 cases of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) have been reported in Selangor, with the weekly number of cases exceeding the warning level as of May 7, said state Health director Datuk Dr Sha’ari Ngadiman.
He said four per cent of this number were admitted to hospitals for further monitoring and the others received outpatient treatment.
“At the same time, 118 HFMD clusters have been reported with 95 per cent involving nurseries or kindergartens as well as childcare centres. No deaths have been reported,” he said in a statement posted on the Selangor Health Department’s (JKNS) official Facebook today.
Dr Sha’ari said the increasing trend of the disease in the state was mainly among children under the age of seven since the beginning of this year.
He said 33 per cent of cases were due to the Coxsackie virus A16 (CA16) and 22 per cent from the Enterovirus 71 (EV71) whereas the rest were from other virus.
Dr Sha’ari said from the 18th Epidemiology Week (ME 18) this year, a total of 525 cases have been reported, however, this is a decrease of 40 per cent compared to the previous ME.
“The decrease is believed to be due to the Hari Raya Aidilfitri holidays as most of the childcare centres and educational institutions were closed due to the holidays. At the same time, there were no HFMD clusters reported during the same period,” he added.
