BANGKOK, 12 July 2012 -Burirum Public Health Officer Dr. Sompong Jarungjittanuson has revealed that 131 children, all under 4 years of age, have come down with foot and mouth disease since the beginning of this year; however, no death has been reported.
Dr. Sompong has encouraged all children centers to be vigilant and keep their premises clean at all times to prevent the spread of the virus among children. He advised that children are not supposed to share their plate of food as the virus can be transmitted easily when a carrier comes into contact with another person.
Common symptoms, he described, are as follows: a headache, nausea, small transparent bumps on the tongue, feet and cheeks. Medical attention should be sought once a child is found to have displayed these characteristics. It is said that it could be fatal in children who have low immunity.
With the disease having reportedly been deadly in Cambodia, community hospitals along the Thai-Cambodian border, especially those in Baankruad district–a trade area where people from both countries cross over to the other side of the border to ply their trade–, which have been instructed to screen Cambodian children crossing into Thai soil to seek treatment in order to prevent the disease spreading to Thai children.
