The Vietnam Health Ministry’s Administration of Preventive Medicine reported 1900 additional hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) cases during the last week of May, bringing the national total to 24,700 cases since Jan. 1.
Two patients have died from the viral disease. The number of cases reported so far in 2014 is actually 14 percent less than the total HFMD cases reported during the same period last year, according to a Thanh Nien News report.
Hand, foot, and mouth disease is a common viral illness that usually affects infants and children younger than 5 years old. However, it can sometimes occur in adults. Symptoms of hand, foot, and mouth disease include fever, blister-like sores in the mouth (herpangina), and a skin rash. For more infectious disease news and information, visit and “like” the Infectious Disease News Facebook page
Hand, foot, and mouth disease is caused by viruses that belong to the Enterovirus genus (group). This group of viruses includes polioviruses, coxsackieviruses, echoviruses, and enteroviruses. Coxsackievirus A16 is the most common cause of hand, foot, and mouth disease in the United States, but other coxsackieviruses have been associated with the illness. Enterovirus 71 has also been associated with hand, foot, and mouth disease and outbreaks of this disease.
