Kelantan records 7,078 HFMD cases since January this year

KOTA BHARU - The Kelantan State Assembly today was told that 7,078 cases of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) were recorded in the state from January until now.

State Local Government, Housing and Health Committee chairman Dr Izani Husin said the number showed a 27-fold increase in cases compared with the same period last year.

He said that however, HFMD cases began to show a downward trend when only 39 cases were reported in the 28th epidemiological week (ME 28), a 58.5 per cent drop, compared with ME 27 (94 cases).

"Of the total HFMD cases reported this year, the majority of cases are among children aged one to four, which is 68 per cent. Overall, 90.3 per cent of the reported cases were among those aged six and below.

"Most of the outbreaks reported involved kindergartens and childcare centres. However, no deaths were recorded involving the HFMD outbreak in the state,” he said.

He said this in his reply to a question from Mohd Rusli Abdullah (PAS-Wakaf Bharu) on the latest development of HFMD, which is spreading among children, at the Kelantan state assembly sitting at the Kota Darulnaim Complex, today.

Dr Izani also said that, among the initiatives from the state government and the state Health Department (JKNK) to curb HFMD, was to close the care centres and nurseries for two weeks if there was a case detected at the premises.

"What we see is that this immediate action is effective and can prevent cases from increasing significantly. In fact, the owners of the premises are also often advised to regularly perform sanitation on the premises.

"As we all know, there is no vaccine for HFMD, and the community only needs to be sensitive especially in terms of hygiene to prevent contracting the disease, as it can be transmitted through coughing and touching saliva droplets, therefore we need to practice to cover the mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing,” he said.

Meanwhile, commenting on the latest development of Covid-19 cases in the state, Dr Izani said that, until June 18, a total of 78,727 cases had been recorded but now it has shown a significant drop.

"From April 16 to June, the number of new Covid-19 cases reported in the state was less than 50 cases daily, thus showing that the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme implemented is a success,” he said. - BERNAMA