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ON THE ALERT: A teacher at Greenridge Primary School doing a routine check on pupils for symptoms of HFMD at assembly time earlier this month. -- ST PHOTO: DESMOND LIM
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SINGAPORE may be facing its most serious hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) outbreak since an epidemic killed seven children eight years ago.
More than 1,000 children fell ill last week - the highest number of weekly infections since the 2000-2001 period.
Of the 13 who needed hospitalisation, one girl was seriously ill, with inflammation of the brain.
Diagnosed with HFMD on April 3, her condition worsened and she had to be hospitalised a week later.
Dr Chong Chia Yin, head of infectious diseases at KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH), said the seven-year-old's condition has since improved. She is now recovering in a general ward.
HFMD is endemic in Singapore, with children catching the virus almost daily. Symptoms include fever, headache, sore throat and a red rash, usually on the limbs and in the mouth, which gives the illness its name.
It is spread through bodily fluids, which is why it can be passed quickly among young children who share toys they may have put into their mouths.
In children, it is usually a mild disease that lasts about a week, but it can be more serious in adults.
The disease can be caused by several types of viruses, with the most dangerous being the Enterovirus 71 or EV71.
The Health Ministry said yesterday that although EV71 is picked up 'only sporadically' in normal times, it was behind 16 per cent of this year's infections.
While many of those infected with EV71 have the usual mild symptoms, it does sometimes trigger severe illness. Doctors do not know why this is so.
The ministry spokesman said it is a 'public health concern' when EV71 is circulating at a time of a large increase in HFMD cases.
The EV71 virus becomes dominant roughly every three years. It was the strain in play in the 2000 and 2003 epidemics.
Schools, kindergartens and childcare centres have all been on the alert since last month, when the number of infections began to climb. One childcare centre closed voluntarily on April 7 and 8 as a precaution against spreading the bug.
The number of infections has been above the 600-a-week mark - indicating an epidemic - for the past four weeks.
So far this year, 6,315 people have caught the disease.
One recent victim now on the mend is Demetrius Low, four, who was diagnosed at KKH on Monday night. He was not admitted, however, and has been resting at home.
He had spent the evening at his minder's house after class at The Montessori Playroom, a kindergarten in Hougang Central, earlier that day. When he saw red spots on his palms at about 9.30pm, he called his mother Euphemia Goh, who took him to hospital.
The product marketing executive said she had told her son about the symptoms to look out for, 'so he knew something was not right'.
A spokesman for The Montessori Playroom, which has about 40 children aged between two and six, said Demetrius was its first case in the current epidemic.
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