Minister: Malaysia has reported 47,880 HFMD cases to date
PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia has recorded 47,880 cases of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) between Jan 1 and Thursday.
Health Minister Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said nearly 90 per cent of the reported cases involved children aged 6 and below.
This year alone, he s ai d , most states showed a rise in the number of HFMD cases, with Selangor recording the highest number at 13,901 cases.
He said the cumulative HFMD cases in the past two days have been dropping and that there were 710 cases reported nationwide yesterday.
“To date, there are 701 premises including schools, day care centres and pre-schools which have been closed due to the disease and some of them have also reopened in stages,” said Dr Dzulkefly at the launch of a townhall to promote HFMD awareness.
He said the ministry had been conducting townhall programmes to promote key practices to prevent the spread of HFMD.
Since the programme started on July 29, there have been 633 townhall sessions involving teachers and operators from 6,714 daycare centres, kindergartens and preschools, said the Health Minister.
“These townhalls also show the commitment and cooperation of various sectors in arresting the spread of the disease.”
Aside from the townhall programme, he said the ministry had also conducted various health and education programmes relating to HFMD, starting early this year.