Health Journal Entry
Scary Virus Infects Children in China (May 12, 2008)
Anhui Province in eastern China has been hardest hit by the hand, foot, and mouth disease outbreak. Wikipedia.
An outbreak of a deadly virus has infected nearly 12,000 children in China. Anhui Province in eastern China has been hit the hardest. Outbreaks are also reported in Guangdong and Zhejiang provinces. At least twenty-four children died from the virus.
The disease is called hand, foot, and mouth disease (HMFD) because it mostly affects those parts of the body. Its symptoms include sore throat, fever, mouth sores, and a rash with blisters.
HMFD can be caused by different types of viruses. Cases from a nasty strain known as enterovirus 71 (EV-71) are the most serious because they can lead to meningitis, a dangerous swelling of the membranes around the brain. Nearly all the recent deaths have been blamed on EV-71.
Outbreaks of HMFD triggered by EV-71 happen from time to time. Most recently, the virus caused deadly outbreaks in Malaysia in 1997 and Taiwan in 1998.
