34 suspected cases of Hand, Foot and Mouth disease in TT

There were 34 suspected cases of Hand, Foot and Mouth disease in this country as at February 24, reported Leader of Government Business Franklin Khan.

He was responding to an urgent question in Senate on Tuesday.

He reported that as of February 2018 there was physician and sensitisation and retraining at the primary and secondary health care levels were conducted in all of the County Medical Officers of Health. He explained the officers were trained in routine outbreak investigation for communicable diseases and with the principal medical officers are equipped and if required to increase alert and awareness at the national level.

Khan also reported public education campaigns were developed by the public education subcommittee of vector-borne and communicable diseases and several groups were targeted including schools, PTAs and children through talk show programmes, social media and newspapers.

He said while the disease is contagious it is not life threatening and symptoms usually resolve on their own within one to two weeks and are generally mild to moderate in intensity.

The public was advised to take personal hygienic measures to reduce risk of infection:

- washing hands frequently and thoroughly

- ensure cleanliness of homes, child care centres, kindergartens and schools

- avoid close contact with people infected with the diseases

- cover mouth and nose when sneezing and coughing

- and increase fluid intake to prevent dehydration

Symptoms of the disease include: fever; sore throat; painful, red, blister-like lesions on the tongue, gums and inside of the cheeks; and a red rash, without itching on the palms, soles and sometimes the buttocks.