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China has ordered health care providers to immediately report all cases of the viral illness that has killed 28 children and sickened nearly 20,000 in outbreaks across the country. -- PHOTO: AP
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BC-AS-GEN-China-Child Virus, 1st Ld-Writethru,0484 Child death toll in China from hand, foot and mouth virus outbreak rises to 34 Eds: ADDS details of U.S. health official's plans to visit AP Photo BEJ803 BEIJING - THE death toll from a viral illness that is sickening children around China has risen to 34, state media said on Friday, as the number of reported infections jumped to nearly 25,000.
The latest deaths occurred in the hardest-hit central province of Anhui, where 22 children already have died of hand, foot and mouth disease, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
The US Embassy said Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt was planning to visit Beijing next week to meet with Chinese officials to discuss relevant health issues, including the viral outbreaks.
As of late Thursday, the number of reported cases jumped to 24,932, Xinhua said - a 25 per cent increase from the day-earlier figure of 19,962.
Cases have cropped up in areas ranging from Guangdong province in the south to Jilin province in the northeast and major cities like Beijing and Shanghai.
Health experts have said they expect the number of reported infections to rise as a result of an order issued this week by the Ministry of Health requiring health care providers to report infections within 24 hours.
The disease is expected to peak in the hot months of June and July.
Hand, foot and mouth disease spreads through contact with saliva, feces, fluid secreted from blisters or mucus from the nose and throat.
There is no vaccine or specific treatment, but most children affected by the disease typically recover quickly without problems after suffering little more than a fever and rash.
Most of the cases in China have been blamed on enterovirus 71, a virus that can cause a severe form of the disease.
The outbreak was not made public until late April, triggering memories of the deadly Sars epidemic that crippled China in 2003 and provoking calls for Fuyang officials to be sacked.
The World Health Organisation has said the delay was not because of any cover-up, but was due to problems local doctors faced trying to identify the illness.
China has since issued a nationwide alert, closing kindergartens and sending officials to visit nurseries and primary schools and educate staff on hygiene and prevention.
Last year, 80,000 hand, foot and mouth cases were recorded nationwide with 17 deaths, the health ministry has said. Spokesman Mao Qun'an said the figures were probably incomplete because reporting wasn't mandatory then.
The ailment is unrelated to the foot and mouth disease that affects livestock.
Ms Susan Stevenson, spokesman for the US Embassy in Beijing, said details of Mr Leavitt's trip have not been worked out.
She said Mr William Steiger, director of the Office of Global Health Affairs at the US Department of Health and Human Services, told a group of Chinese journalists in Washington this week that the US 'is glad to help when and if needed' during the hand, foot and mouth outbreaks. -- AP, REUTERS
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