The Center for Health Protection of Hong Kong on Thursday ordered a school to close for two weeks as one of its students has come down with an Enterovirus 71 (EV71) infection with severe complications.
The 10-year-old developed a fever on May 20 and went to hospital on May 23 and was admitted to the intensive care unit. She has moved to a general ward and is now stable.
Her school, St Francis of Assisi's English Primary School, has reported eight cases of hand, foot and mouth (HFMD) disease so far.
Doctor S K Chuang, the center's Consultant in Community Medicine, said 32 EV71 cases were recorded in Hong Kong so far this year, higher than the same periods last year, and the Center's surveillance data also showed a continuous rise in HFMD since mid-March this year.
"We have already put in place surveillance systems for HFMD and EV71 infections including outbreak notification, sentinel clinics, and laboratory surveillance," Chuang said.
An interdepartmental meeting was recently held on Thursday to review the hand, foot and mouth disease and EV71 situation in Hong Kong.
The health, education, hospital authorities agreed to maintain the current criteria on class suspension of childcare institutions and schools experiencing EV71 infection.
Letters will be sent again to childcare centers and schools on preventive measures.
EV71 is a viral infection usually found among young children. Most EV71 infections cause mild illness such as HFMD but a small proportion of the affected persons will develop complications.
The number of EV71 cases in the city in 2007 was 12, with 98 in 2008 and 31 last year. |
