Death toll from contagious disease in China doubles

Death toll from contagious disease in China doubles

au.news.yahoo.com

BEIJING (AFP) - Forty children in China died from the highly contagious hand, foot and mouth disease in March, almost doubling the death toll in the previous two months, state media reported.

The disease, which is especially harmful to young children, also infected over 77,750 people last month, prompting calls to boost efforts to control the spread of the illness in China, the official Xinhua news agency said.

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See, unlike swine flu, these kinds of diseases are a real threat.

In January and February this year, 17 people died of the disease and a further 61,429 were infected, according to official figures. By way of comparison, 353 were killed last year by the illness.

There is a constant and increasing trend with this disease. It is a disease you really wouldn't want getting out of hand and spreading across nations.

The illness, which is common in China, causes fever, blister-like eruptions in the mouth and skin rashes. It can be fatal in children because their immune systems are immature.

au.news.yahoo.com
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[edit on 10/4/10 by spearhead]