Authority:HFMD in Thailand is not from new strain

BANGKOK, July 18 (TNA) - A senior health authority confirmed Wednesday that the hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) found among children in Thailand now is not a new or deadly strain. When making the confirmation to journalists on Wednesday, Dr. Rungrueng Kitphati, Director of the Thai Ministry of Public Health's Bureau of Emerging Infectious Diseases, who is also spokesman of the Department of Disease Control, acknowledged that viral strains of the HFMD currently spread among children in Thailand are the enterovirus type 71 coxsakie A 6 and A16, of which the A6 is found most and it is not a lethal strain. Dr. Rungrueng insisted that it is normal that the HFMD is found most in children aged lower than five, as it is usual that children aged below 12 come down with the disease. Praising schools which have ordered a temporary closure after finding their students suffering from the HFMD, Dr. Rungrueng said the closure will help prevent the spread of the disease, urging schools which are now reopened while students are still suffering from the disease to strictly follow advises given by the Ministry of Public Health and authorities concerned. The senior Thai health official suggested the public not to panic, but advised that parents observe their children and immediately send them to doctors if they are found to have HFMD-like symptoms, namely high fever, nausea and reddish spots on their hands and feet more than three days. To date, a total of 13,918 people have been found to have contracted with the HFMD in Thailand, but it is expected that the disease outbreaks should fade within the next 4-6 weeks. (TNA)