Disease

Hand, foot and mouth disease in Asia

The number of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) cases in Asia so far this year sees one country reporting tens of thousands, and others reporting thousands of cases of the viral, typically childhood infection.

In China, the number of cases of HFMD in 2015 has exceeded 90,000 during the first two months of the year, a similar case count as seen in previous recent years, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) Western Pacific Region. China has also seen 10 HFMD fatalities to date.

Japan has reported in excess of 13,000 cases to date, a number higher than what has been seen in recent years. For example, for the period 12 March to 1 April 2015, there were 4,252 cases reported compared with 776 over the same reporting period in 2014. As of 28 March, there were 6,510 HFMD cases reported in Singapore for 2015. The situation in Singapore has prompted the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to issue a travel notice for travellers to the city-state today.

Vietnam has also reported a significant number of HFMD cases in 2015 to date. For the period 1 January to 22 March 2015, there were 9,334 cases of HFMD reported in Vietnam, including two deaths.

HFMD is typically a benign and self-limiting disease. Most common in young children, it presents as fever, oral lesions and rash on the hands, feet and buttocks. The oral lesions consist of rapidly-ulcerating vesicles on the buccal mucosa, tongue, palate and gums. The rash consists of papulovesicular lesions on the palms, fingers and soles, which generally persist for seven to 10 days, and maculopapular lesions on the buttocks.