Minister of Health: "It's not yet at the point where we need to declare a hand, foot, and mouth disease outbreak."

"Some countries in the region have seen a surge in hand, foot, and mouth disease cases and deaths, but none have declared an epidemic yet, so why should we?" the Minister of Health said on the afternoon of October 25 during a meeting on epidemic prevention and control.

According to Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien, Vietnam detected its first case in 2003, and since then, the disease has occurred sporadically throughout the year. This year, in particular, the outbreak has become severe.

However, it's not just our country; some neighboring countries like China and Thailand also have outbreaks, but none have officially announced them. "Previously, the World Health Organization announced an H1N1 influenza outbreak. Vietnam also announced an outbreak, but that was a respiratory disease; just a sneeze could spread it to the entire community and many countries. All ministries, departments, police, military, transport, tourism... were mobilized to participate in combating the epidemic. Incoming travelers must have their temperature checked and samples taken," Minister Tien stated.

Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien. Photo: Moh.

"Meanwhile, hand, foot, and mouth disease is still prevalent annually, mainly affecting children under 5 years old, transmitted through dirty hands, so we can control it. Furthermore, we are still experiencing a dengue fever outbreak but haven't declared one. Would we really declare one and then require everyone entering Vietnam to have a blood test?" Ms. Tien said.

She also emphasized: "I confirm that there is an outbreak of hand, foot, and mouth disease, but according to the law or in reality, no one is announcing it. And there is no question of localities concealing it for the sake of achieving targets. We can still control it because the disease is transmitted through dirty hands. That being said, we must not be complacent about the lives of children," Ms. Tien added.

Mr. Nguyen Van Binh, Director of the Department of Preventive Medicine (Ministry of Health), also stated: "Currently, no locality is unable to control the disease. Only if all preventive measures are applied correctly and fully according to the Ministry of Health's guidelines, and the disease outbreak continues to increase in the area, can we say that it is not under control."

According to him, local authorities have been very good at controlling the outbreak. Evidence of this is that provinces that previously had high numbers of cases have seen a decrease. Currently, there are fewer than one case of hand, foot, and mouth disease per 1,000 people, while in Singapore there are 3 cases per 1,000 children.

According to Mr. Binh, the reality is that current public awareness campaigns focus on early detection of diseases so that children can be examined and treated, but they do not pay enough attention to disease prevention. People's awareness is still very lax; even when collaborators and communicators go to people's homes, people do not listen.

"Therefore, in the coming period, we need to change the way we communicate so that people can protect themselves; healthcare workers cannot do it for them. We just need to do the simple things like washing our hands with soap and washing our children's hands before and after eating and using the toilet, disinfecting toys, towels, diapers, clothes, floors, etc.," the Minister of Health emphasized.

In fact, surveys in several provinces and cities show that a large percentage of children who stay at home and don't attend school still contract the disease. An investigation of 100 children with hand, foot, and mouth disease in Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai, Ba Ria - Vung Tau, Binh Duong, and Ben Tre revealed a very high rate (nearly 80%) of children who don't attend school. The situation is similar in Long An, Vinh Long, and Quang Ngai. This highlights the crucial role of parents and caregivers in preventing the disease in children.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Health, the country has recorded 78,000 cases to date, including 137 deaths. "The mortality rate in Vietnam is quite low, around 3%, while in neighboring countries it is 10-30%," the Minister of Health said.

(According to VnExpress)