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BACOLOD CITY — The Negros Occidental provincial government has stepped up its information campaign against the highly contagious hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) after the number of cases rose to about 6,000 percent.
Provincial Health Officer Ernell Tumimbang stressed on Friday the need to isolate patients with HFMD.
Patients with uncomplicated HFMD, he said, may be managed in an out-patient setting, but those with more severe cases should be referred for admission and inpatient care in a higher level facility with specialists.
“The HFMD cases will further increase if left unabated,” he said.
In a memorandum to all mayors and health officers in Negros Occidental last week, Tumimbang stressed the need to intensify their information drive, as well as their preparedness and response programs, to slow down the spread of the disease.
“The province is on alert status against HFMD,” he said.
Cases of HFMD in Negros Occidental have increased by 6,300 percent this year.
Data from the Provincial Health Office (PHO) showed at least 320 HFMD cases were recorded from Jan. 1 to Feb. 4, compared to the five cases over the same period last year.
Tumimbang said the spread of the disease was due to “unabated transmission,” which meant that proper isolation was not practiced as everyone thought it was just a simple itch on the hand and foot.
“It is easily passed on to other people,” Tumimbang said.
Infection can be transmitted by person-to-person contact through nose and throat secretions, saliva nasal mucus, fluid from blisters, or the stool of infected persons.
Transmission, he explained, was easy, especially that in-person interaction at school is already allowed.
Common symptoms of HFMD include fever, painful sores in the mouth, and a rash with blisters on hands, feet, and buttocks.
HFMD usually affects infants and children.
Kabankalan City had the highest number of HFMD cases in Negros Occidental at 73.
Bacolod has at least 28 HFMD cases reported from Jan. 1 to Feb. 4, according to the City Health Office (CHO).
To prevent the spread of the disease, the CHO advised people to wash their hands, especially after touching an infected person or body fluids, feces, and before eating; keep an infected person at home; avoid sharing personal stuff and disinfect by wiping surfaces with bleach.
Four public schools in Bacolod, it said, had been disinfected against HFMD.
The CHO said those hit with HFMD should take paracetamol for fever and pain, eat soft but non spicy and hot food, and drink plenty of fluids to avoid dehydration.
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