Students wash their hands frequently in order to prevent diseases such as hand, foot and mouth disease, which is starting its peak season. (Photo: www.pasteurhcm.gov.vn)Medicine has instructed health officials in provinces and cities nationwide to
cooperate with to strengthen cleanliness at schools to
prevent outbreaks of hand, foot and mouth disease and dengue fever.
At a recent press meeting held in Ho Chi Minh City, Dr Tran Dac
Phu, director of the general department, said that students in many provinces
and cities nationwide will start the on September 5.
Phu required preventive health officials nationwide to guide
school managers and teachers to manage waste and water containers away from a
school’s campus to prevent from mosquitoes, which transmit dengue fever to
humans.
Kindergarten toys and other devices should be washed to avoid
transmission of hand, foot and mouth disease among children, he added.
“If one kid gets the disease, it is easy to transmit to others at
school,” Phu said.
Nguyen Tri Dung, Head of the HCM City Preventive Health Centre,
said that following the ’s
requirements, the centre has sent a communiqué to people’s committees, health
centres and private as well as public schools in districts to implement the
preventive measures.
The centre has provided chloramines B and Javel to schools to
disinfect classrooms, toilets and kitchens, Dung said.
Teachers should guide their students to wash hands frequently, he
said, adding education on preventive measures against dengue fever and hand,
foot and mouth disease should be strengthened for students and their parents in
meetings, loudspeakers and posters at schools.
Phu said: “Students are communicators for effective preventive
measures.”
According to Dung, school teachers should bring students who are
suspected of being infected with these diseases to hospitals and report them to
local health officials to carry out surveillance and preventive measures
against their further spread.
Preventive measures against the diseases should continue during
the school year, he added.
By August 10, the city has recorded 12,200 cases of dengue fever,
an increase of 27 percent compared to the same period of last year, he said.
However, the incidences have not increased over the last seven
weeks, he added.
In the whole country, 80,555 infection cases have been recorded
since the beginning of the year, an increase of 33.5 percent. Twenty-four
people died due to the disease, according to the report of General Department
of Preventive Medicine.
In the week between July 28 and August 3, 168 children with hand,
foot and mouth disease were hospitalised for treatment in the city, an increase
of 11 percent compared to the previous four weeks.-VNA
Source: VietnamPlus
