Cases of Hand-foot-and-mouth disease increase

Source: CCTV.com | 04-11-2009 14:40

The Health Ministry says more children have been affected by hand-foot-and-mouth disease. They predict the number of cases will peak from May to July. Hand-foot-and-mouth disease is a common childhood illness that mainly affects children under the age of 10.

The Health Ministry says more children have been affected by hand-foot-and-mouth disease.(File photo)

The number of reported cases in the year-to-date is more than 100-thousand, with fifty people dead, and about eight hundred in serious condition. About 95 percent of the affected children are under five years of age, with most of them living in rural China.

The Health Ministry and local provincial health authorities have dispatched experts to try to help deal with the situation.