While The Phnom Penh Post has nothing today about the WHO report (see below), IRIN Asia has this story on Cambodia's response to it: CAMBODIA: “Mystery disease” not so mysterious. Excerpt:
Cambodia has begun nationwide surveillance for a severe form of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD), a common viral illness that usually affects infants and children younger than 5 years old and is rarely life-threatening, health officials confirmed on 13 July.
Since April more than 50 children have reportedly died from the “mysterious” disease which was first diagnosed on 9 July. Health experts cite Enterovirus 71 (EV-71), one of a group of enteroviruses that results in the disease, as the cause.
"The surveillance system had not been geared up to detect hand, foot and mouth disease, and the country lacked the capacity for testing for its severe form," Dr Nima Asgari, head of the emerging disease surveillance and response unit of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Phnom Penh, the capital, told IRIN.
Sentinel sites for severe HFMD have been established at five hospitals and health centres have been instructed to inform the Cambodian Ministry of Health about mild cases of HFMD, ministry officials said of the effort which began earlier this week.
Asgari noted that it was likely more cases of the disease would be detected in the coming weeks as surveillance increased in Cambodia. So far in 2012, there have been 890,000 cases of mild and severe HFMD in China, with 242 deaths, and Vietnam has recorded 58,000 cases and 29 deaths, WHO reported.
“EV71 seems to be rising and causing a number of situations where there are a lot of deaths,” Asgari said. In Cambodia the cases occurred in 14 of the country’s 23 provinces, which did not add up to an "outbreak" because they were not linked, health ministry officials said.
In its mild form HFMD mainly affects children, causing fever, sores in the mouth, and rashes with blisters on the feet, hands and buttocks. Children generally recover from the disease within seven to 10 days without medical treatment.
But in severe cases, especially those with the presence of EV-71, patients can have neurological and respiratory symptoms, including convulsions, jerking of the hands and feet and shortness of breath.
