Tue, 13 May 2008 18:44:2
Sandeep Singh Grewal - AHN Middle East Correspondent
Manama, Bahrain (AHN) - Following the outbreak of hand-foot-mouth disease in parts of China, Bahrain authorities say they will provide health advisories to its 11 athletes participating in the Beijing Olympics.
"We will be advising the athletes on good hygiene practice, in addition to precautionary measures like drinking bottled water and not eating outside," Dr.Adel Al Sayyad, head of the Communicable Disease Control Section, told AHN.
According to the official Xinhua News Agency, five Chinese children on Monday died of hand-foot-mouth disease (HFMD) caused by the enterovirus 71 (EV71), taking the death toll to 39
Al Sayyad said Bahrain was at the least risk from the transmission of the disease from China. He said his agency had distributed circulars to doctors stating the symptoms of the disease.
HFMD starts with a fever followed by blisters and rashes on the hands and feet. There are reportedly no vaccines to cure the disease which is rare among adults.
"Children below 10 years are susceptible to the disease. The Ministry of Health is following up on the developments with the World Health Organization (WHO)," said Al Sayyad.
According to Xinhua news agency, HFMD has sickened about 25,000 children in six provinces: Anhui, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Hunan and Zhejiang.
Xinhua also quoted health ministry spokesman Mao Qun'an as saying the outbreak of HFMD will not affect the Beijing Olympic Games.
"China is confident that it can control the spread of the disease with effective prevention methods," Mao said at a press conference jointly held by the Ministry of Health and WHO.
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